Uprising
by Velocity-Alondite95
Summary: Darkness is coming to engulf the Kingdom, yet the King does nothing. It's up to Captain Tala, Rei Kon and their allies, to unite nations, combat the darkness, and lead an uprising against the King! Rei x Salima, Kai x Hilary
1. King Kai and Rebellion Plans

Howdy everyone, this is my newest creation "Uprising" I've always wanted to a do a Beyblade fic during the age of magic and swords. If no one knows of the places in this story, they are a part of this fantasy world I've had in my mind for four years. The world of Valen. I hope you enjoy this story.

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><p><em>Kingdoms have fallen to this darkness, yet the the King does nothing but war with other nations. We need a an uprising, we need a leader, we need a saviour!<em>

This much was true, ever since Kai Hiwatari became the King of Ceril, he sought to the expand their lands by claiming other kingdoms. Though he had not taken over any kingdoms at all. He should have been turning his attention to the threat that lay to the South, the darkness is coming, that much was true enough. No one had even thought to lead an uprising against Kai, for he possessed magic like none other, despite being at such a young age, 17 to be exact.

"Captain Tala!" shouted Kai while sat in the comfort of his throne. Within a moments notice, Tala came through the door the throne room.

"Yes, my lord Kai?" said Tala, bowing respectfully to him.

"What's our position in the conquering of Wilsmore?" asked Kai, leaning forward expectantly.

"Not good, it's a stalemate down there, heavy casualties on both sides. Their men are better equipped than us and had the advantage of being ready for us before we arrived. If we don't pull out soon, they'll all be massacared!"

"You will not do such a thing!" growled Kai defensively.

"But, my lord, we can't just keep on fighting a losing battle out there. The darkness will come here, to Ceril, and destroy all that is good unless we hold a cease fire, at least until the darkness is dealt with" reasoned Tala, trying to make Kai see sense. Their was an eerie silence that followed, Kai thought for a moment, thinking of what to do next.

"If that is the case, send in more troops"

"But, my Lord..."

"That is an order!" snapped Kai. Tala was tempted to use his own ice magic on Kai, but thought better of it and left the throne room. As Tala left the room, his personal guards, Spencer and Garland, stood by his sides.

"What was the King's verdict?" asked Garland, Spencer nodding with him.

"He want's me to commit more troops to the conquering of Wilsmore" said Tala, sounding dissapointed.

"What?" questioned Garland.

"That's an outrage, he can't do this!" added Spencer, to which Garland agreed with. Tala then walked on ahead, with Spencer and Garland following by his side. Once they reached the gates of the castle, Tala turned to them.

"It's time" he spoke confidently.

"Time for what?" questioned Spencer.

"It's time... For and uprising!" said Tala triumphantly. "First, we need to win the people of this kingdom to our cause, which shouldn't be too hard as they hate King Kai's guts"

"What about that Rei Kon?" asked Garland. "You know, the guy you've been helping perfect his magic abilities?"

"That's our very next stop, Garland" said Tala calmly. "I can just sense... that Rei Kon will have a major part to play in this uprising"

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><p>Rei walked the streets of Ceril, hand in hand with his girlfriend, Salima.<p>

"Everyone seems in a pretty aggressive mood towards King Kai today, well... more than usual" said Rei to Salima, as their pace quickened somewhat.

"Yes, I agree Rei. But this whole war with Wilsmore is stupid and uncalled for! We all know the darkness is coming, and Kai is more obsessed with killing who could possibly be our closest allies to thwarting this evil! How far down the line of madness has he gone?" questioned Salima.

"Too far for any of us to reason with him now" said Tala as he approached Rei. He and Salima bowed respectfully to him.

"Captain Tala? What brings you down here? Aren't we going to have another lesson?"

"That can wait Rei, we have pressing matters on our hands right now. We're starting and uprising!" answered Tala heroically.

"An uprising? Are you sure that it will be easy?"

"Rei, and uprising is never easy" added Garland before Tala could speak.

"Okay, I'm in on this anyways. I want my revenge on Kai for what he did to my family!" shouted Rei.

"Good" said Tala happily, clapping his hands. "That's the spirit, now... you two go and pack your things, we leave the city as soon as we can"

"Theres no time for that, we leave now" answered Rei.

"Eager to get started are we? Very well, let's go" smiled Tala as he, Garland and Spencer lead the way.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked a very worried Salima. "This could be dangerous"

"Salima, trust me... the sooner we leave, the quicker we can fix this world together. Isn't that what you wanted? to heal the world of all it's wrongs? Well you possess healing magic, you will be vital to this cause." said Rei, trying to reassure her.

"I know Rei... but I've fought before, I'm scared"

"I promise Salima" said Rei, taking her hands. "I won't let any harm come to you... not while I can help. Now let's go" he added as he lead Salima with him.

"I hope you don't mind me asking" said Spencer, tapping Tala on his shoulder. "But where on earth are we gonna stop tonight?"

"Dinsmir Village, two hours travelling from here on foot, my family home is there. We can use it as our base of operations"

"Were travelling by horseback right?" asked Garland. "It would save us some time"

"Makes sense to me" chirped Salima. Tala rounded a corner where four horses awaited them. "And it also seems you thought a step ahead of us Tala"

"I have to" he said smirking. "I'm leading us out of here aint I?". They eventaully all mounted horses, Salima was on the same horse as Rei, sitting behind him and clinging onto him tightly. Within moments, all four were off on their way. Before long, they passed the city gates and were out into the lands of Ceril. They rode non-stop until they reached Dinsmir Village. It was a peaceful place, home to many happy inhabitants and the upper class alike.

"They don't have guards in this village Tala, why is that?" asked Rei, looking around him.

"They do, they are out of the village at this moment in time. They are the Saint Shields. You've all heard of them, they are the elite scouting force in the country, and very good mages too. They are good men, as so is their young leader, Ozuma. He has been planning this uprising with me for some time now. We both decided that now is the time to start our rebellion against King Kai"

"Is their anyone else we'll be aquainted with on this quest to bring King Kai to justice?" asked Salima, worried if she was annnoying Tala with these questions.

"Yes, there is Maxwell Tate. But everyone calls him Max, he serves as a messenger for my family, until I discovered his magic potential. He can control water, as discovering this, I recruited him to our cause. Next their is the twins of Julia and Raul Fernandez, from the port city of Coviso. Raul posses fire magic while Julia posses lightning abilities. Oh that reminds me Rei, take this"

Tala then threw a cloth towards Rei, he caught it but noticed something was inside of it. He took off the cloth to reveal a huge two handed blade.

"It's your family sword Rei... I've been keeping it safe since King Kai... No, I wont go on about it. It's too personal to you"

"Thanks for keeping it safe Tala" said Rei, slightly cracking a smile. "I shall bear the Kon name proudly as we gain victory over King Kai!"

"And before I forget" continued Tala. "Here's your weapon too Salima" He threw a staff to Salima. "That is a staff of healers, it should help enhance your power, as your will grows stronger, the staff will extended and become more powerful"

"Thank you, Captain Tala" bowed Salima.

"Lets head inside" said Garland. "I want to hear more about this plan"

"Very well" said Tala "Lets get a move on!"

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><p>I really enjoyed writing that, and you are bearing witness to the last chapter I'll ever write as a sixteen year old, as come the 17th of March, I'll hit my 17th birthday!<p>

Also as a little note, for those who want to know what Rei's sword looks like, type in Zhanmadao on Wikipedia.

See you in chapter two!


	2. The plan and Salima's fear

Heya guys, I'm back after my 17th birthday, it was great! But enough of that, heres where your get to see what Tala and Ozuma's plans are.

Special thanks goes to _AquilaTempestas_ and _Nazrita_ for reviewing the earlier chapters. This ones for you guys.

And on that note, our tale continues...

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><p>By nightfall, everyone had gathered in one room of Tala's family estate that was know as the "War Room" Decorating the walls were portraits of Tala's ancestors, all of the males in the family were captains of the Ceril army for the last thousand years. This room had a huge circular table stationed in the middle of the room. It seemed unmovable from that particular spot, as Tala had dug a hole in the floor for the table to sit conformtably in. Dry, rock hard mud prevented it from being pulled out.<p>

Rei sat himself down on a chair between Julia and Max, who gave him a quick glance then focused their attention to Ozuma, who was the only one standing up.

"Now then" said Ozuma, pacing back and forth behind his empty chair. "Tala and I have gathered you all here for an important purpose. To help us in our battle to overthrow the evil King Kai Hiwatari. Ceril is the largest, most powerful nation in this world of Valen. But that power will be for nothing if we keep focusing our attention towards the good people of Wilsmore. The Darkness is coming, and no one is prepared to stop it, that is why we are here. To unite the lands, keep everyone safe, and to stop the Darkness."

"To achieve this, we must gain the alliegence of the other nations in order to stand up to the Darkness" said Tala, getting out of his seat as Ozuma temporarily sat down. "Our plan is this, I'll be heading out to these nations to help gain their alliegiance. I'll be selecting a handful of you to join me, the others will stay behind with Ozuma and gather as much information on Kai's movements. Consider this estate as the base of our operations"

"Once we overthrow Kai" carried on Ozuma as he stood up at the same time as Tala sitting down, making an awkward note of it in his head. "We must look to a successor on the throne, who will lead this army of the world into battle against the Darkness." he then threw a bunch of maps across the table to everyone. "Our first stop is the neighbouring Kingdom in the east, the Kingdom of Risfaldar. The allies we hope to gain their and living in the Kingdom's capital, Dunamis, the City of Mages. Once we have Mage Commander Kane on our side, word will spread across the Kingdom, and they will be more than willing to offer their swords to their cause. Mariam will accompany Tala and his chosen team on this mission. She has a special crystal ball, which not only lets us see what the other is doing, but we can talk through it to see our progress."

"Okay then" said Tala, who decided to stay sitting down. "I'll select those who will come with me now. Rei Kon, you are my student. It's time for you to become a master, you'll be coming with me. Max, you have much to learn, so you'll accompany me too. Julia, you have experience of that city, so you'll come. Salima will also come along as we will need a healer out there."

"Those of you who have been selected, I want you to get some sleep now" said Ozuma. "You'll need to get up early, it's a two day ride to Dunamis, so you'll need your strength" the four of them bowed respectfully as they left for their beds.

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><p>"Are you okay Salima?" asked Max, who was wide awake and saw Salima moving about in a rapid pace while sleeping.<p>

"Argh! huh? oh sorry Max, I was having a nightmare" she said honestly. Max nodded his head and sat at the foot of her bed.

"What about?"

"The Darkness coming, consuming everything that is good in this world, and Rei is killed infront of me. I could only watch in fear" she answered as tears formed.

"Those days maybe upon us" Max stated "But we have the chance to stop that, breaking down now wont help us. We need you out there"

"Thank you Max" smiled Salima as lay back down in her bed. Max smiled and sat back on his own.

"Get some sleep" he smiled back to her as he stared at the ceiling.

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><p>"She has a good heart" said Tala to Rei, as he peered through the door. "But she's scared of battle"<p>

"She's never been in a fight before, not in her life. She fears that she will let us down, but I tell her not to lose faith, that there is hope. Recently, I've really started to get through to her. She's very slowly gaining her confidance, give her a few more battles and she will worry less and less"

"Are you sure about that Rei? Though she is our healer, so she should stay some range away from the battle"

"Well, theres only one way to sort that theory out, Captain Tala. And that's to let her battle"

"We'll never know till she does, but for now. Get some rest Rei. See you in the morning"

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><p>"Where the hell is Captain Tala" shouted Kai at one of his servants as he shook them violently.<p>

"I-i-i-I don't know where is" said the terrified servant in fear.

"I know where he's gone" said a voice as a man, hooded and cloaked in black appeared in the room.

"What do you know about Captain Tala?" Kai asked calmly.

"He has deserted you, my lord. He and his bodyguards, Spencer and Garland left the city around midday. I do believe he was fleeing to Dinsmir. He took the healer we've been spying on Salima and her boyfriend Rei Kon with him"

"Rei Kon is alive? That bastard doesnt know to hide himself. His family are no more, yet the Kon name keeps following me and haunting me like a bad itch. I'll do what I did to his family personally. Make sure he is brought to me... alive"

"Very well" said the hooded man as he departed.

"I expect a full report on the situation in the next few days. Good luck... Voltaire"

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><p>End of chapter two.<p> 


	3. The first battle and gaining Kanes trust

Hey guys, it's chapter three! Hope youve all enjoyed the story so far. and I hope you enjoy it even more.

Thanks goes to _AquilaTempestas_ and _Nazrita_ for reviewing tha last two chapters.

And so our story continues...

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><p>The group were nearing the great mage city of Dunamis. All of them were on horseback, Max keeping rear guard so no one got left behind.<p>

"Are you sure about what you said last night?" asked Tala quietly to Rei, making sure Salima didn't hear him. "That Salima will gain her confidance to fight?"

"Yes, I did mean it Tala. She was the same when I tried to teach her how to play a piano. She kept letting her fears of not being good get in the way, but now... she's a thousand times better than I am" smiled Rei.

The horses galloped as fast as they could until they came to a stop. A huge tree, lay dead on it's side on the path infront of them. Tala jumped off his horse to inspect the situation.

"Bandit's" whispered Salima to Rei. "There's no way a tree like that could fall by itself"

"I hate to be captain obvious" shouted Max. "But we've got company up ahead!"

Out of nowhere, bandits sprang out of all hiding places and brandished their swords. They all sprang upon Tala, who did not see them coming and two of them held him by his arms. While their leader appeared.

"Well well well. What have we here? Travellers, or soldiers? either way, kill them boys!" The leader boomed out.

Tala's face showed that of panic. He cringed, waiting for the final strike. But something unexpected happened. Once he opened his eyes, he saw Rei, standing in front of him with his sword and the two bandits that held him lay on the floor dead, in a pool of their own blood.

"Argh! i dont know who you are, but you killed some of my good men! Attack!" Cried their leader.

Salima, and the others dismounted and drew their weapons.

"Get ready for them" shouted Rei, with his sword ready to cut them down. Salima stood with her back pressed to Rei's, holding her staff up as it began to glow, as if resonating with the magic within her.

"Now!" cried Max.

The battle became quickly instense. Rei struck down the first charger with his blade, but his sword got stuck in his fallen opponent. He struggled to get it out of the dead corpse as a second bandit struck at him. Rei quickly dodged and brought his right hand into a fist and struck the bandit in his chest, winding him. As the bandit recoiled, Rei knocked his scimitar out of his hands and picked it up for himself and stabbed the bandit in the chest, killing him instantly. looking down at the other dead bandit before him, Rei picked up his scimitar and battled dual-bladed. Using one blade as a distraction for them to parry, as he finished them off with the second scimitar.

Max threw himself into the thick of the action right from the beginning, using his staff to pound the living daylights out of anyone who got close to him. He even accidently conked Julia on the head too.

"Draciel Staff! Water Blast now!" He cried out, suddenly, he shot up into the air. He then suddenly realised he had the staff pointing the wrong way round! He kept going up and up until he hit his head on a treebranch and fell back down. landing on top of a couple of bandits in the process.

Salima was trying her best to fend off her attackers, but became quickly outnumbered due to being the weak one. They backed her up against a tree, thinking they had cornered her off. Salima then screamed and stabbed the bottom of her staff into the ground. It then caused a small shockwave that knocked the bandits around her off their feet, to which Rei and Tala quickly came in to finished them off.

Mariam kept dodging in and out of opponents, keeping the crystal ball she possessed close to her chest. She then ran vertically up a tree and leapt into the air and pointed the crystal ball down at the floor. It began to glow and suddenly a rushing stream shot out of the crystal ball and onto the ground, soaking and half drowing the bandits, that's where Julia came in, she shot lightning from her hands at the water, which gave the bandits in the water electric shocks. Killing them slowly and painfully. Tala then jumped in and froze the water, effectively freezing the bandits as well.

Max then gathered himself from off the ground and got back into the fray, pointing his staff correctly this time, dealing some devastating damage to them.

"Phew, I think that's all of them" panted Max.

"You havent won just yet!" shouted the leader, running towards Max at speed, sword raised. He went for a strike, but Max used his staff in a spring like style to keep himself out of harms way.

"You'll fight me then" shouted Rei confidantly, pointing both of his scimitars at the leader.

Both of them rushed towards each other and their blades clashed, echoing around the forest area they were in. The leader had more power than Rei, and began to force him backwards with every block he made. Then the leader made his offence, Rei desperately trying to parry his attacks, only just managing too. He eventually tripped and fell backwards, the leader then grinned with satisfaction and held his sword aloft, ready for the final swing. Salima looked away, unable to watch. Rei smirked, then grabbed one scimitar and slashed at the leaders right leg, cutting half of it off. Resisting the urge to suddenly vomit, Rei took out the other one. The leader fell to the floor in a heap as Rei grabbed the other scimitar and plunged both of them into the leaders chest. Blood shot out of his mouth at the stabbing and then his head fell to one side as if his neck was broken.

"Well done Rei, you handled that battle very well" smiled Tala. "Keep this up and you'll almost be as good as me!"

Max then suddenly earned himself a slap across the back of the head from Mariam.

"Ow, hey what was that for?" sniffed Max, clutching the back of his head in pain.

"For being such a dolt! Hold your staff the right way round next time" she said sternly.

"Ugh, god. Mariam, could you lend me a hand?" shouted Rei to her. "My family sword has got stuck in this corpse"

"Hold on Rei, I'll be right over" she replied, but not before giving max a few more words. "I'll be speaking to you about your screw up later!"

Mariam then went over to Rei and helped him to try and get the sword out of the corpse, it was struggle, but it eventually flew out, knocking both of them over and Mariam landed on top of Rei.

"Awkward" said Rei as Mariam blushed and quickly stood up to hide it. "Thanks for the help by the way, Mariam" he added smiling. "I really appreciate it"

"Okay guys, now they we have disposed of them, let's keep moving" said Tala as he jumped back on his horse, everyone else did the same a few seconds later.

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><p>A few hours later<p>

"Here we are guys" smiled Tala. "The city of Dunamis!"

And it was a sight to behold. The third largest city in the world of Valen lay ahead of them, only Kuljia, the Ceril capital and Exidoia, the capital of Iorka, could make a bigger claim. This jewel of a city was literally huge! it seemed to span on for miles. Rei looked out at it and then around at his fellow companions, he noticed that Mariam was looking at him dreamily, then quickly looked away when she knew he was looking.

"let's get down there shall we?" smiled Max as they proceeded onwards towards the fortress, which was where mage commander Kane was instructing some recruits.

thirty seven minutes later.

"Excuse me" said Tala to Kane, who was busy with his instruction. "Pardon our intrusion, but we need to speak with you" Kane then stopped what he was doing and turned around.

"Captain Tala Valkov, of the Ceril army. What business do you have here?"

"I'm leading an uprising against the evil and corrupted King Kai Hiwatari, I was wondering if you would like to join our cause?"

"I don't trust you... Valkov, it's not personal against you, but you can't expect me to hand you my soldiers without some proof that you can be trusted"

"Very well, Kane, what shall we do to earn your trust?" asked Rei, entering himself into the conversation.

"I was hoping you would ask, you see we are having problems with a band of anti-mages, calling themselves "Mage Hunters" they have captured my assistants, Jim and Goki. You must bring them and the Mage Hunters' leader back to me alive! or at least eliminate the Mage Hunters"

"Very well" said Tala "We'll get onto that now"

"Good luck Valkov, your gonna need it against them!"

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><p>End of Chapter Three<p> 


	4. Adventure Truly Begins

Hey hey! It's chapter four, how is everyone doing? Very well I hope.

No action in this chapter as such, but loads of describing. Hope you enjoy

So our story continues...

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><p>"Well, I suggest we start tracking down the Mage Hunters in the morning" said Rei, pulling his boots off to relax his feet a little bit.<p>

"Sounds like a plan" smiled Julia. "I think we do need a well earned rest. But don't you think we should have a disguise around here Rei? I mean, there are still many King Kai heretical followers around. So our clothes would definately be a strike against us"

"Smart girl" shouted Tala as the opened the door to the inn they were staying at for the night. The others noticed he was carrying a very large sack over his shoulder. "Good thing I brought some money along with me too" he added, throwing the bag onto the table in the middle of the room. Unlike many other tables in the world of Valen, this table was of a strange shape to be associated with tables. It was triangular shaped!. The bag rattled a little upon impact with the table. Tala then ran his hand through the bag, muttering something about being more organized, until he found the right bag and threw it to Salima, who caught it.

"What's this for Captain Tala?" she asked, putting the bag on her bed.

"It's your disguise, Salima. I know now that Kai may have put bounties on our heads, so until the battle for Ceril begins, we must wear these to make sure we don't attract unwanted attention" Tala replied before adding. "Go try it on, but not here, you don't want Max staring at you right?"

Salima then dissapeared from the room and returned a few minutes later, she was now wearing the disguise Tala bought her. She was now wearing black fingerless gloves, which were mainly used in these regions of Valen for travelling. Her shoes were now replaced by pure white boots that stopped short of her knees, with black laces on them. She also wore dark tights that looked so black and less transparant that one would think she was wearing leggings. She wore a dress too, but this was a sort of mage-like dress. The skirt part stopped short of the bottom of her thighs, making sure the tights were still shown, and the sleeves were quite wide on her and they almost draped over the top of her gloves. In the waist area she has a kimono-like sash that went around her waist, but not going into the skirt-like area. The buttons were somewhat strange as well, as they went up to the neck in a zig-zag shape.

"How do I look?" she asked in a shy way.

"Almost complete" said Tala, observing her attire. He then walked up to her, took out her ponytail band and started ruffling her hair at a rapid pace until her left eye was no longer visible under her hair. The back of her hair reached all the down to her waist. "Now your finished... Okay Rei, your next" he said as he threw Rei a bag, who noticed that his one was quite heavy.

He came back in almost quicker time than Salima did. His whole attire had gone, he now wore thigh length leather greaves. He had plain white trousers on that could only be seen slightly, as he wore a white cloth shirt the stopped a little gap away from the greaves. The cloth shirt had black leather armour attached to it, to protect Rei from harm. He also wore grey forearm length fingerless gloves, with black (and white trimmed) vambraces. Rei had turned his headband inside out to the cover up the Kon crest that lay on the right side of it. He also removed his ponytail band, letting his hair at the back flow freely.

He was quickly followed by Julia, who had the same usual attire on, except the colour was dark green, not red. Her gloves were also replaced by steel gauntlets. She also gained a sea blue cloak the stopped just a coulple of inches from the ground.

Max was the last one get his new attire, he wore a full black mage robe, which had a white trim running across it, and a white trenchcoat over the top, which in turn had a black trim on it. He was actually wearing the standard mage recruits attire (Trenchcoat not a part of the attire)

"What about mine then?" asked Mariam, sitting on her bed, looking out of the window.

"Don't worry" smiled Tala "No one in Ceril has even seen you remember? You havent met King Kai or his subjects, so they wont know who you are" Mariam had to crack a smile, knowing that Kai did not know what she looked like was a blessing!

"Whats the plan then?" asked Rei, before Tala could answer, Julia interrupted.

"You, me and Tala will go looking for the Mage Hunters. Salima, Max and Mariam will look for information on King Kai. He has hidden documents in this city, it's vital that we find them"

"Lets get some rest guys" chirped Max. "We've got documents to find and asses to kick!"

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><p>8:12 AM<p>

"Morning Mariam" smiled Max, looking out the window.

"Your sure up early aren't you Max" groaned Mariam as she got up from bed.

"Wait a sec" said Max all of a sudden. "Where the hell is Salima?" Mariam looked around their room and sure enough, no Salima!

"I bet she's gone to follow Rei most likely, but we should worry about the task at hand" said Mariam as she got dressed.

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><p>Who's the Mage Hunter leader? Will Rei and the others find Goki and Jim alive? Will Max and Mariam find the documents? Where has Salima gone?<p>

All these will be answered in the next chapter...


	5. True Birthright and Dawn of a Hero

Yo everybody! It's me again, with the new chapter for Uprising.

Hope you all enjoy this one.

And our story continues...

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><p>9:00AM<p>

"I think were getting close to the Mage Hunter's camp" said Julia quietly to the others, as she heard noise coming from deep into the forest. "We'll have to be silent, if we wan't to get in undetected that is" Julia then heard footsteps behind her. They could not have been Rei or Tala, as they were slightly infront of her. The footsteps got louder and louder until Julia reacted by quickly turning around, grabbing this person by the scruff of the neck, and slamming them against a tree really hard as she drew back her free hand into a fist.

"Wait!" cried the panicking voice. "It's me, Salima"

"Salima? What the hell are you doing out here?" Julia growled at Salima, but quietly, as too not attract attention.

"I don't want to find no documents. If I'm going to be of use to you guys, it would make more sense that I come along with you" Salima answered, even louder than before.

"Shut up Sal!" growled Julia even more. "You'll alert the-"

"Intruders!" shouted a Mage Hunter. "Sound the alarm, warn the others"

"Salima, you bitch!" screamed Julia as she ran towards the Mage Hunter and stabbed him in the chest, with the blade shooting out his back, with a flowing stream of blood escaping freely.

"Well, there goes our cover" sighed Tala, drawing his blade. "Attack!"

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><p>Mariam and Max were scouring the vast library of Dunamis, hoping to the find the documents that King Kai had threw away.<p>

"Come on" sighed Mariam in frustration. "It's gotta be here somewhere... Max, stop reading and come here and help me find these blasted documents!"

"Quiet Mariam" warned Max quietly. "This is a library after all. Besides, this book is fascinating. It tells you all you need to know about notable people from history"

"Will it tells us anything we need to know about the last king of Ceril?" said Mariam, suddenly sounding interested in this book Max was reading.

"Let me see" replied Max as he quickly flicked through the pages. "Z-z-z-z-z-z-z... ah here we are, King Zhilo Arvani. Many say he is the last true King of Ceril... blah blah blah... this does go on a bit. Ah! Here we are. When King Zhilo Arvani died, he had left in his will that the next ruling family to be seated upon the throne was... Oh my god!" gasped Max as he dropped the book in shock. Mariam caught it before it hit the ground.

"So it was left too... Whoa, I totally was not expecting this" said Mariam in suprise. "It was left to... The Kons, you know what that means right?" she asked, looking at Max who looked back at her.

"That Rei is... the rightful King of Ceril!"

* * *

><p>Rei, Tala, Salima and Julia made their way to the fort of the Mage Hunters, leaving trails of bodies in their wake. They quickly neared the front gate when one of the Mage Hunters quickly shut it.<p>

"This is where I come in" smirked Tala, he drew his dual longswords and summoned ice magic from them. Ice formed out of the blades and made an icy path that lead over the top of the gate. Tala then ran as fast as his legs could carry him up the icy slope he created and jumped high into the air, the Mage Hunters that were around him looked up in suprise, wondering what the hell he was doing. He suddenly dropped to the floor at a force no one had seen before. He stabbed his swords into the ground, which caused large ice crystals to shoot out of the ground, impaling numerous members untilt he ground was now plastered in blood. He then grabbed his swords and cut the chains that kept the gate shut, allowing the others to enter.

"That was rather impressive" said a voice from the shadows, who began walking and clapping rather slowly as he went. He then appeared to be a young man, 17 years old to be exact. He wore black boots that stopped short of his knees, they looked rather travel worn and dirty. He wore gray trousers, also looking rather travel worn. He wore a black long-sleeved shirt that looked somewhat a few sizes too big for him, as the sleeves looked somewhat big on him, he wore black gauntlents that could not be seen due to the size of the sleeves.

"Who are you?" questioned Rei, holding his blade up in a defensive position.

"How could you have not heard of me? I am Tyson Granger, the leader of the feared Mage Hunters. Too long has the residents of Dunamis treated us badly, too long has mage commander Kane had a vendetta with us. Now is the time to strike back! I was really hoping you'd join our cause, but since you killed most of my men, we'll have to reconsider our offer... and replace it with your grave!"

Tyson suddenly pulled out a large katana and charged at Rei. Rei got himself prepared for the strike and managed to block it, both blades clashed together as Rei used his strength to knock Tyson backwards.

"A lively one then eh?" smirked Tyson, looking Rei up and down. "It's been awhile since I had a good fight, make sure I get one!"

"Gladly" spat Rei as he hurled himself towards Tyson, swinging his sword towards Tyson's face. Tyson did not even flinch, he raised his clenched fist infront of his face, and quickly flicked it open. Rei felt an unnatural gust of wind blow against him at roaring high speeds, until Rei crashed back first into a tree. He dropped to one knee in pain as his sword made a clanging noise as it hit the ground next to him.

"Did I forget to tell you?" smirked Tyson in a cocky voice. "I control the powers of the wind, theres no possible way you can defeat me. Oh, and to make sure the others don't get bored, I'll have my second in command's to keep you occupied... Hiro, Lorelei... Take them down!"

* * *

><p>"Come on!" growled Raul, standing up from his chair. "We've been sitting here for about three days now, we've done nothing!"<p>

"Calm yourself" said Ozuma calmly, raising his hand sideways towards Raul, gesturing for him to sit back down. "We have to wait until one of our "Inside men" comes to us with some details"

"How long do we have to wait for!" Raul growled even louder. "A week? A month? A year? We can't just sit here and pretend everything is all rosy"

Just then, Garland appeared in the door way.

"Excuse me Ozuma, they have arrived" said Garland as he stepped aside as two men appeared in front of Ozuma.

"Miguel! Robert!" exclaimed Ozuma. "It's good to see you guys again"

"The feeling is mutual, friend" said Robert, his face never changing.

"What news do you have for us?"

"Not good I'm afraid" sighed Miguel. "King Kai has put a bounty on the heads of Salima, Rei Kon and Captain Tala Valkov. Wanted dead or alive. There are plenty of heretical people out there that believe all this nonesense he's coming up with!"

"Is that all?" asked a concerned looking Ozuma.

"We wish it was" said Robert, who also sighed. "Since Tala left the Ceril army, he has handed the title of Captain to his apprentice, Johnny. Who is just making life hell for most of the guards, us included. And because of Johnny, Ceril is now at war with Wilsmore's closest ally. Kjori. I know of their leader, Oliver, he is a good man. prehaps he could be of some use in the coming war."

"Now that you've reccomended Kjori" said Miguel, who was in thought whilst counting on his fingers. "our list of potential allies grows larger!"

"They would be great allies for the war that is to come" said Ozuma, the worry from his voice completely dissapearing. "I'll send Garland and Spencer over to Kjori to see if they can strike up a deal and ally with us in the coming war"

"What!" snapped Raul, getting more madder than earlier. "They get to go on mission's while I'm stuck here doing nothing? Forever being in the shadow of my supposedly "War Goddess" sister? I think not!"

"I hate to interrupt" said Spencer, dashing into the room. "But we've got a big problem, Kai's Elite. They're here!"

"Finally" sighed Raul with relief. "Some action at last!" he added as he drew his sabre from his scabbard and used his fire magic to set the blade on the fire.

* * *

><p>Rei continued his assault on Tyson, no matter how many times Tyson struck him down, he would always get back up and try again. Tyson sent a wind vortex towards Rei, who responded by jumping from a rock and slashing vertically with his sword, splitting the vortex in half and eventually dissolving. Tyson grew frustrated at Rei not giving up. His temper eventually got the better of him, he gave up using wind magic and used his katana to battle Rei sword-to-sword. With Rei going for strikes, Tyson parrying and going for a counter, only for that to be blocked by Rei, they kept on going back and forth in this pattern for quite some time.<p>

Julia and Lorelei were in a duel of sorts, with Julia clearly having the upper hand. Lorelei tried to stab at Julia but missed, with the sword going through the gap between her arm and her body. Julia siezed upon the opportunity and grabbed Lorelei's arm with her free hand, brought Lorelei level with her and headbutted her as hard as she could, followed by a strike to the forehead with the hilt of her sword, causing Lorelei to drop to the ground and clutch her face in pain.

Tala fought against Hiro valiantly, but Hiro was becoming too strong for him. Hiro went to knock Tala down with his giant sword, but Tala sent out an ice blast that froze the blade and his hand together, making him unable to use it.

Salima stood and watched the three battling, staff at the ready. She then noticed above Tyson and Rei, there was a stack of barrels suspended by some rope at the end of a platform. Salima ran towards it, grabbing a sword off a corpse, she climbed up a ladder that was propped up against a tree. When she got to the top of the ladder, she jumped and did a backflip onto the wooden platform. She gently put her staff down and ran towards the rope and slashed at it with her sword. The rope snapped quickly and sent the barrels hurtling towards the floor like a sack of potatoes. Some just crashed around, but others were successful, one knocked Tyson off balance, making him drop his katana. The second smashed over his head, making him comically fall to the ground.

Tala (With the help of Julia) managed to to completely incapacitate Hiro, who now lay battered and frozen on the floor. Tala now stood above his fallen prey, ready to finish him off. Julia was doing the same to Lorelei. Tyson was crawling across the ground, desperately trying to reach his sword. Rei stood on Tyson's chest, preventing him from crawling away. Rei readied his blade and went for the swing. Tyson looked over at Hiro and Lorelei, seeing the fear on their faces he shouted...

"Stop!"

Rei managed to stop himself mid-swing. He looked at Tyson, wondering what the hell he was doing.

"The battle is yours, we surrender. Just please dont hurt Hiro and Lorelei" said Tyson, sitting up against the remains of a barrel. "Take us to Kane, we'll also promise to leave Dunamis alone. We promise that"

Salima smiled at the fact her quick thinking worked as she spun on her heel and went to pick up her staff, she took one step and fell through the platform as if she'd dropped through a trapdoor. Her staff fell down with her, landing vertically next to her as she stood up. She noticed two people, chained to the walls.

"Are you two Jim and Goki?" asked Salima, approaching the two.

"That we are, did Kane send you?" said Jim, trying to wriggle a hand free.

"Yes, he sent me and a few others to come and rescue you, your free from the Mage Hunter's grasp now"

"Well the jobs only half done" sighed Goki. "Your gonna have to get us off this wall first"

"Oh, my apologies" said Salima, feeling like a right idiot. She noticed two keys on the floor in front of them. She grabbed hold of them and undone the locks, Jim first, followed by Goki.

"Thanks, whoever you are" smiled Goki. "Where are the others that came with you?"

"They are just outside, were taking Tyson and his two second in commands back to Dunamis to decide their fate. Oh, and the names Salima"

* * *

><p>The battle between the Resistance and Kai's Elite was reaching it's peak. Bodies lay everywhere, in the thick of the battle, Raul was cutting his way through with his trusted sabre, leaving bodies trailing behind him.<p>

"Hey, this kids impressive!" shouted Spencer over to Ozuma as he flattened one of Kai's Elite like a pancake with his giant war hammer.

"Yeah, I'll give him that" said Ozuma, standing back-to-back with Spencer. "But's he's just charging in without any thought, that kind of recklessness would get you killed on a real battlefield"

Eventually, they were becoming outnumbered. Ozuma then threw his sword the ground, brought his hands into fists and pounded away at the ground.

"I summon you Flash Leopard! Attack!"

Flash Leopard rose from the ground and charged down Kai's Elite, trampling them to death with it's pace and power. Ozuma then ran after Flash Leopard, picking up his sword on the way, and jumped onto Flash leopard's back. Riding as if on horseback, Ozuma cut down many of Kai's Elite. Also, due to Raul's carelessness, Ozuma accidently knocked Raul's sabre from his hands.

"What the hell are you doing!" cried Raul as he scrambled across the ground, trying to grab hold of his sabre. He got no answer.

Ozuma and Flash Leopard managed to help drive back the rest of Kai's Elite, a few escaped, but many were killed brutally by Spencer, Ozuma and Flash Leopard.

"Well done men." shouted Ozuma. "We've drove them back... for now. This place will no longer be safe, we'll need a new plan now. Me, Miguel and Robert will head to Kuljia, to try and gain allies there. I'll send out a messenger to bring the rest of the Saint Shields back here to Dinsmir. Raul, I hope I can trust you, I'm leaving you in charge of the defense of Dinsmir. Spencer and Garland, I want you two to head to Kjori as fast as possible. I'll be back by sunset"

Flash leopard returned to the ground as Ozuma, Robert and Miguel headed to Kuljia. Raul turned around to see Garland and Spencer getting on their horses, ready to head off to Kjori.

"What? Your heading off already?" questioned Raul.

"Yes, we are. We need the army of Kjori to help win this war against Kai and the Darkness, you have to stay here, your doing a vital job here Raul, dont forget it" said Spencer as he and Garland rode off to the east to Kjori.

"Great, I'm kept away from doing anything useful... again!" curse Raul, shouting at the sky.

* * *

><p>Back in Dunamis<p>

"Mage Commander Kane!" shouted Tala, standing in the middle of the Dunamis' fortress with his allies.

"Captain Tala Valkov..." said Kane, running towards them, slowing down to a walk. "I trust you were successful on your mission"

"Yes" smiled Tala. "We have the leaders of the Mage Hunters right here. Lorelei Kinasdre, Hiro Granger and Tyson Granger. Salima also found Goki and Jim alive, they are outside at this moment in time."

"Then you have my thanks, and the thanks of all the other mages in this kingdom, let alone this city. For your action's, you are welcome to this fortress any time your in the city."

"Do this mean you'll ally with us?" asked Rei.

"Yes we will!" smiled Kane as he shook Tala's hand, signaling the alliance.

"We have our first allies!" smiled Salima happily. "Who else will we gain on our quest?"

"I would highly reccomend Exidoia as your next stop" said Kane, walking towards Rei and Salima. "I know the way there, I'll leave Jim and Goki in charge, they will muster up a mage army that the world of Valen has never witnessed!"

"It is an honour that you're accompanying us" smiled Rei, also shaking Kane's hand.

"Rei?" said Salima. "What's wrong with your sword?"

Rei took his sword out of it's scabbard and noticed it glowing. He then raised it above his head, which made the sword surge with energy, so much so, Rei dropped to his knees due to the power contained. His sword transformed in front of his very eyes, from and almost katana like two handed sword to a giant zweihander, which had a grey and black hilt, a shiny white blade and a blood red gem in the hilt.

"Oh my!" cried Kane. "He's a hero! That is no normal sword" Kane inspected it closer and gasped. "You said that was the Kon family sword right?" Rei only nodded. "Well did you know that the Kon Blade is infact the blade of an ancient beast? You now wield in your hand... the Driger Blade!"

"Ugh... my head!" cried Rei as he clutched his head in pain.

"Wh-whats wrong?" asked Salima, becoming more and more worried at Rei's state.

"The Driger Blade has a strange ability to give it's wielder strange headaches, the headaches are actually flashbacks. Maybe memories that are distant, some that he can remember, or ones that he would like to forget"

* * *

><p><em>Flashback state<em>

_Seven Months ago_

_"What the?" shouted Rei's father as the door was flung open. There stood the one and only Kai Hiwatari. "Oh, for a second there, you startled me. Rei, Kai is here"_

_Rei ran to the door as fast as he could and stopped right in front of Kai._

_"Hey Kai. How are you?" smiled Rei._

_"Very good my friend" smiled Kai, patting Rei's shoulder._

_"You look... tired, Kai. Are you testing your sleep pattern again?" questioned Rei._

_"No, but that was very fun though" both of them began to laugh. "It's the new training regime that my grandfather has given me, so it maybe a couple of hours longer, but if were ever gonna be heroes, we need to push ourselves to the limits"_

_"I doubt we'll ever be heroes. But we never know, hey. Have you seen Salima?" said Rei, looking over Kai's shoulder._

_"Yeah, she's just down the street, let's give her a jump shall we?" smirked Kai. Rei, instantly catching on to what Kai was talking about, smirked as well as they both exited the house._

* * *

><p>Rei came back from his flashback state.<p>

"What was it that you saw?" asked Kane.

"T-t-that day" said Rei, dropping to his knees once again. Salima gasped as Tala looked away, hiding his face.

"Rei, we've got something you'll wanna see!" shouted Max, gasping for air as he ran towards them with Mariam. "Zhilo Arvani's will says that your the true King of Ceril!"

"What? let me see that!" said Rei, snatching the book and the documents from Max. He flicked through the quickly, then froze. As if he was a timebomb, it was almost like some counted from ten to one. He just went almost ballistic.

"Calm down" said Tala, trying to stop Rei freaking out.

"What? what the hell does all this mean? Kai killed my family, is this why? Arrgh!" everyone tried to calm Rei down, even Tyson tried. No one managed to calm him down, that is, until Mariam stepped up.

"Rei" she said, gripping his shoulders, making him look at her. "Relax, you can't do anything in this state. You need to calm down, this path has been laid out before you, just like Zhilo Arvani did, it's your turn to walk the path. Okay? Just take deep breaths" Everyone was shocked, as it actually worked!.

"Thanks for that Mariam, even I need a metephorical slap in the face every now and again" smiled Rei. "Now, lets head off to Exidoia shall we?"

"Wait!" shouted Tyson. "Let us accompany you, we'll offer our help to you in this war. What do you say Kane? That way we repay our debt to Dunamis"

Kane pondered for a moment, before answering...

"Yes, you can accompany us on our mission to overthrow Kai and combat the Darkness. You'll serve time once this is over. Understand?" Tyson, Lorelei and Hiro only nodded.

"Then it's settled" smiled Salima. "Now... to Exidoia!"

* * *

><p>What will happen when they reach Exidoia? Who will they meet? and what will come of Raul?<p>

All these will be answered in the next chapter!


	6. The treasure hunter: Mystel

Here we are again, chapter 6 of Uprising, it's finally time for you guys to read the latest update, I hope enjoy this.

And once again... our tale continues

* * *

><p>The heroes were halfway through their long and tiring journey to Exidoia. The travel was long and tiresome, with no towns or villages to stop and rest in. Eventually they came to a pathway that was sandwiched in between two large cliff like hills, the pathway was rather narrow, meaning that they all had to go single file through. Kane lead the way through, but he stopped when he saw a heap of dead bodies up ahead. He dismounted and urged the others to stay where they were, he crouched by the bodies. All of them had been slain by arrows, he found a map in the hands of one of the dead bodies, he picked it up, and was shocked at what happened next.<p>

As if like a bolt from the blue, an arrow flew past Kane, nearly taking his face off. It struck the map in Kane's hands and took it with it. Until the arrow stuck into a tree.

"You should be more careful out in these parts, not the safest area of Valen I'll tell you now" said a young voice.

"Who are you?" asked Kane, staff raised. "We promise that no harm will come to you, show yourself"

"Very well" answered the voice, a relatively short young man appeared from out of the clearing. He had blonde spiky hair, red and white robes and blue trousers. He also had a longbow in his hands. "I am Mystel, a young apsiring treasure hunter. At your service" Mystel bowed gracefully, but as he bowed, he lost his footing on the rock he was stood on and fell to the ground in front of Kane, hitting every rock on the way down, until he came to a stop at Kane's feet.

"Who's this jackass?" whispered Max to Julia, which actually made her laugh.

"I apologise for my shameful fall there" said Mystel, picking himself up off the ground. "I was on my way to Exidoia you see, like I already mentioned, I'm a treasure hunter. I scrambled up some artifacts from a group of mudering cut throats. They chased me to here, where I've been hiding in the trees, taking them out one by one for the last two weeks"

"Very impressive pile of bodies there" said Tyson, looking at the corpses. "And you did that all by yourself? My that is very good!" he added. giving the thumbs up.

"Thanks, so I see you guys are on your way to Exidoia too, thats great. If it's not too much of a bother, would I be able to accompany you there?" asked Mystel, with hope in his eyes.

"Let me talk with Captain Tala first" said Kane, who then turned around and walked towards Tala. "So what do you reckon we should do with him?"

"I say he should come with us, no one is safe out here. Not even someone as skilled as he is. He should join us for the rest of our journey, we really need an archer in this group, someone who has the accuracy for it."

"Very well, consider it done" said Kane as he walked back to Mystel. "Captain Tala say's you can join our group for the rest of our journey"

"Really? Sweet!" shouted Mystel, jumping up and down with excitement. "Well let's not just sit here, come on! We've got a city to get to!"

* * *

><p>"What news do you bring Voltaire?" said Kai, sitting on his throne. Looking rather agitated.<p>

"Not exactly the best news my lord. Your Elite were beaten in Dinsmir, it seems that the Saint Shield's have betrayed you too, along with Spencer and Garland. We lost track of Tala and his allies on the border of the mage city Dunamis. We are still hot on Spencer and Garland's trail, they are heading east to Kjori. I have also been told that Robert and Miguel are plotting against you too, they have been spotted in the city with Ozuma. What do you propose we do?"

"Send out the top assassin's in Ceril! Track down Tala and his friends and kill them, do the same with Spencer and Garland. And as for the traitor guards and Ozuma, send Johnny out to stop them, then throw them in the prisons... That is all"

"Very well my lord, I'll send them out immeadiatly"

* * *

><p>It took a four day journey, but the heroes had finally arrived in Exidoia.<p>

"Wow" exclaimed Max. "This city is huge! How on earth are we gonna find our way through here?"

"That's were I come in" smirked Mystel, walking ahead. "Come on, follow me" Mystel then began to lead them through the winding maze-like streets of Exidoia, always looking over his shoulder to make sure the others didn't lose their way.

"How long do we have to go?" groaned Tyson. "I'm starving!"

"Not far now, we just take a left here, do a right here, straight on then left again and bingo!" shouted Mystel. "Here we are" they had arrived the palace of Exidoia.

"It looks amazing" smiled Salima, looking around in awe.

"Come on now guys" reasoned Tala. "We are not here to sight see, we've got a mission to go on" he added as he walked on ahead into the palace. Rei walked alongside him until they reached the doors of the throne room. "You guys stay out here, except you Rei, come with me" Rei looked suprised, then nodded as they proceeded inside.

"Queen Judy?" called Tala out loud.

"Who is it? Oh, it's you Captain Tala. What brings you here" smiled Judy, relieved to see him.

"We've come seeking an alliance with Iorka, to overthrow King Kai Hiwatari and stop the Darkness" stated Tala, stepping forward infront of Rei.

"And who is this who accompanies you?" questioned Judy, looking at Rei, who seemed to be in a world of his own.

"He's Rei Kon, the true king of Ceril. His family sword turns out to be the Driger Blade. He's out to stop the Darkness and gain revenge against King Kai"

"I would like to commit troops to you right now, but unfortunately I cannot" spoke a crestfallen Judy. "We have our own problems, you see. We have been fighting a battle with the undead"

"The undead?" said Rei, snapping out of his trance. "I thought they were such things that only existed in childrens tales"

"Oh they are real all right" said Tala. "The pathway we took to get here is normally littered with undead at night, though it took us four days to get through and we did not encounter a single undead. I wonder why this is?"

"I can answer that for you" said voice, who began to walk into view.

"Captain Michael Parker! good to see you!" smiled Tala.

"Likewise" smirked Michael. "We had sent scouts to watch the Ounderund which you passed through some time ago. They seemed t be building themselves up into an army, at first it was the odd band of undead that broke into the city and have been easily dispatched. But recently, they have become larger groups, more organised and tougher to fight against. Just last night, our fears came true, they are being lead by a fell dragon!"

"They are going to attack tonight, so we must be prepared" said Judy, sounding slightly worried. "There is now way out of Exidoia, they have us fenced in. If we are to survive, we must hold them back and slay the fell dragon.

"Then we shall gladly assist you!" interrupted Rei, looking directly at Judy. "We'll make sure those things die...again"

* * *

><p>"So, tell me again, why exactly do we have to stay out here?" questioned Mystel, who was sitting in the courtyard with Max.<p>

"Queen Judy is my mother, I think she'd freak out if she found me here. Tala brought me with him to take me away from Exidoia, away from harm, but now I'm here again, trapped in war that we cannot escape from. But such is life and I'm willing to play my part in this"

"Wait a second, do you hear that?" said Mystel, with a confused tone in his voice.

"No I don't" said Max, leaning forward, wondering what Mystel was on about.

"Keep your voice down and listen" said Mystel, eventually Max heard it too. "Sounds like someone's in trouble"

"let's go and see what the commotion is all about" stated Max, grabbing his staff and running with Mystel in the direction of the noise. They arrived on the scene to see the voice was coming from a girl, a pink-haired girl to be more precise.

"Let me go!" she cried out, hoping someone would help her. "Your not taking me as a slave!"

"Slience girl!" shouted the lead slave trader. "Or we can end your life now"

"You won't be ending anyones life!" shouted Max, pointing his staff at the slavers. "You let her go, and we won't have to hurt you guys!"

"Think your tough eh? you little kids? Get them men!" shouted the head slaver, the other slavers obeyed and charge after Max and Mystel...

They regretted it instantly...

Max and Mystel were quickly dispatching slavers one by one that the head slavers frustration grew to the point he grabbed a sword and charged for max who blocked it and hit his staff towards his chin, knocking the head slaver up in the air and splitting his chin in two. The key to the pinkettes cage flew up from out of the head slavers pocket, max swung his staff around, connecting perfectly to send it sailing into the keyhole of the cage. Mystel took aim with an arrow and fired it. The arrow hit the key and it knocked the key sideways, unlocking cage door.

"There you go miss" smiled Max, jabbing a slaver with a stick to ensure he was dead. "Your free to go"

"I guess you two have my thanks, I don't know what I would have done if you two did not come along. My name is Mariah if you should know"

"Pleasure to meet you Mariah, the names Max. This here is my friend Mystel, were travelling with Tala and Rei Kon of Ceril"

"Rei Kon?" questioned Mariah. "Your telling me my best friend is here?"

"Your best friend?" asked Max, looking more confused than Mystel did minutes earlier.

"Yeah, he, I and Salima a tight knit group of friends. Until Kai tricked my father into selling me in Exidoia as a slave"

"Well" smiled Mystel. "Salima and Rei are here and you are safe, tell me Mariah, can you fight?"

"A little bit" said Mariah, shrugging and looking down at the floor. "I can only really use a bow"

"Well, we could use the extra help on our mission, would you like to join us?" asked Max, looking chirpy.

"Well, if you insist. I will!" Mariah smiled back at Max.

"One more question" said Mystel, pacing up and down the pathways. "Have you by any chance ever heard of who I am? Just a hunch, Ceril hears quite a lot about Iorka"

"I know who you are Mystel" laughed Mariah. "Mystel, the fearless young treasure hunter. Master archer and a person that women love, though admittedly the tales we hear of you say that you are taller" she added as she and Max laughed together at Mystel being small as they walked back to the courtyard.

"Oh come on! That's not fair" pouted Mystel, jumping up and down in frustration, until he realised he was the only one there. "Hey wait for me!"

* * *

><p>To be continued in chapter 7<p> 


	7. The Battle For Exidoia

Hey everyone! It's Uprising time! this chapter is the battle for Exidoia. Strap yourselves in, it's gonna be a wild ride.

And so our tale continues...

* * *

><p>Night was beginning to fall over Exidoia. Rei, Tala and Michael were planning the defenses for the city.<p>

"Have troops stationed all along the gate wall, we'll fire down with arrows to help slow them down" said Michael, checking over the troops to see if they were battle ready.

"This entire city is surrounded by this great wall" interrupted Rei. "It goes around like a ring, it would make sense to have as many troops on every single stretch of this circular wall, just incase they decide to attack from elsewhere. Have troops down below behind the gate, just incase it's blown open"

"The latter part was what I was planning to do" said Michael, turning around to face Rei. "But an all around attack wasn't something that I have thought of, good thinking Kon. We have more than enough men to go all the way around the circular wall and have troops stationed behind the gate."

"How many men do we have?" asked Tala.

"If my guess is correct, we have at least eight thousand soldiers in this city, men and women. This city is large so that's why, but were facing undead. Who knows how many soldiers they have? Millions? Billions?"

"They are undead" stated Salima, walking forward to stand beside Rei. "Who knows how many people died in the Ounderund, it could be number beyond any imagination, or as far as we can count"

"Well, the only way we can find that out is through battle" said Michael. "Soldiers! man the walls, make sure none of these creatures of darkness breaches this city, we are the only hope this city has, do NOT falter!" The Exidoian soldiers unsheathed their weapons, ready for battle.

* * *

><p>Night had fallen, the soldiers stood on the wall, awaiting the undead army. Very soon, the undead came into view, marching at a steady pace. The undead came closer and closer until they came to a stop.<p>

"What the-" said Michael. "Is that, demons? in the undead army? this is not good for us"

The Fell Dragon then came into view, flying over the top of the army. It then flew up high and let out a loud roar, which spurred the undead into a frenzy as they charged at the gate.

"Archers!" called Michael, the archer got their arrows ready as Michael prepared to give the signal, as the undead got closer, Michael screamed. "Fire!" the sounds of arrows firing echoed across the city as the arrows rained down the frontline, slaying numerous undead. For the early part of this battle, none of the undead could break through, due to numerous arrow fire and Tala using his Ice magic to stop them from advancing.

"Oh no!" cried Rei. Michael, Tala and Salima looked at Rei worriedly. "Siege towers! coming towards us!"

"Good!" smirked Tyson, drawing his katana out of it's scabbard. "This is where we come in!" Rei, Tala and Michael all drew their swords in preparation. The siege towers finally came to the wall and they let down their drawbridges.

That was when all hell broke loose...

Rei launched himself into battle first, using his pace and strength to destory numerous undead around him in a quick amount of time. He then clashed with an undead that wielded a spear, it blocked Rei's first and second strikes, but the third one connected. He took a large swing and sliced the spear in half, followed by the undead itself. Rei attacked with a speed and rage that the soldiers of Exidoia had never seen before, he was fighting like an animal that had been released from it's cage.

Tala threw himself into the thick of the action, using his dual wielding ability and quickness to take out undead soldiers pretty quickly, especially the ones with shields, who proved to be troublesome for the soldiers of Exidoia. He then stood back to back with Kane, who was using his elemental mage abilities to force the undead back from him.

Tyson and Julia were taking out undead together, combining Tyson's wind abilities with Julia's lightning magic to draw in undead soldiers, sucking them into the whirlwind created by Tyson. Once the undead were trapped, Julia shot lightning into the whirlwind, making undead explode. The remains of the others fell over the side of the wall onto the undead battalions below.

"Come on! this way" said Mystel, leading Max and Mariah towards the wall.

"Hurry guys" cried Max, raising his staff. "Our friends need our help. No rests until we've destroyed them"

"Let's kill these undead bastards!" shouted Mariah as the three of them charged towards the wall.

* * *

><p>Kai sat alone in the throne room, so cold, empty and alone. He grabbed a feather, dabbed it in ink and began to write a piece of paper.<p>

_These are my thoughts, and I'll read them_

_These things that I've done_  
><em>To get myself to this standing<em>  
><em>lies and betrayal are my only friends<em>  
><em>Now I've turned my back on everyone<em>  
><em>Do I really deserve to be here?<em>

_My former friends, Rei and Salima_  
><em>My best, and closest friends<em>  
><em>The comrades in arms that cared for me<em>  
><em>Who shared my dreams of becoming a hero<em>  
><em>I ruined their lives cause of my own selfish deeds<em>  
><em>Did they really deserve this deception upon them?<em>

_I am now the King of Ceril_  
><em>The capital of Kuljia is my home<em>  
><em>All my memories of my friends<em>  
><em>Lie inside an old and dusty tome<em>

_Rei, Salima and I. We wrote a book_  
><em>Tales of heroes made up in our own minds<em>  
><em>Those heroes embodied our hopes and dreams<em>  
><em>I've kept the book to this day, the only book I read<em>  
><em>Do I really deserve to have it in my posession<em>

_I am now the King of Ceril_  
><em>The capital of Kuljia is my home<em>  
><em>All my memories of my friends<em>  
><em>Lie inside an old and dusty tome<em>

_I brought the blood upon my hands_  
><em>no one will forgive me now<em>  
><em>I sometimes even have to cry myself to sleep at night<em>  
><em>I miss my friends, I miss the good times<em>  
><em>No I don't deserve any of this<em>

Without realising it, Kai was shedding tears, but he continued to write...

_I am now the King of Ceril  
>The capital of Kuljia is my home<br>All my memories of my friends  
>lie inside an old and dusty tome<em>

Kai looked at his reflection, his tear stained face. Then something within in snapped, as if he was possessed, he began to write in anger...

_Snap out of this Kai Hiwatari_  
><em>Sympathy is not me at all<em>  
><em>I am letting the soft thoughts weaken myself<em>  
><em>This book is my weakness<em>  
><em>I shall cast it aside, under the bed<em>  
><em>Never to speak of it again<em>  
><em>I am the leader this Kingdom needs<em>  
><em>And no one will stand in my way<em>  
><em>They will all be crushed if they rebel<em>  
><em>I deserve all of this!<em>

_I am now the King of Ceril_  
><em>The captial of Kuljia is my home<em>  
><em>I am the king, they'll all bow to me<em>  
><em>I'll rule this world of Valen alone...<em>

* * *

><p>Mariam was using her sword to try and take out some of the undead, but she was becoming vastly outnumbered. She was backed up against a corner as a loud clanging noise erupted around her. When she finally dared to look, she saw Rei fighting to keep them off her. She couldnt help but smile, until she carried on with the battle.<p>

Salima's fighting had changed somewhat since her first battle, instead of a sort of desperation fighting, she was tactically moving and dodging about, keeping the undead at arms reach with the staff. She then noticed a group of soldiers being outnumbered, looking to the side, there was a number of explosive barrels. In an act of quick thinking, Salima grabbed a sword and threw it towards the barrels. What she didn't realise was that it made contact with the explosive barrels next to Rei!

The explosion knocked Rei backwards and off the high wall, he began to plunge towards the floor. But luckily, Mystel and the others arrived on the scene, with Mystel running up a near wall and kicking off of it, catching Rei as he came down.

"Thanks Mystel" said Rei, grabbing his sword again as he tried to catch his breath.

"Anytime my friend, now let's get back up that wall!" shouted Mystel. They all went to charge, but Rei groaned in pain loudly and barely move from his spot.

"Damnit! I'm hurt, send for someone to come and help me then carry on the fight yourselves. Don't let me stop you" shouted Rei to the others through gritted teeth from the pain as he slumped his back against a nearby wall and managed to get in a sitting position.

"Come on guys!" urged Max. "We need to hurry!" Max then ran up the large set of stairs up the wall, followed by Mystel and Mariah.

* * *

><p>"What the hell do you think your doing!" screamed Julia at Salima as she shot a bolt of lightning at a demon, making it explode.<p>

"Be quiet Julia!" shouted Salima back to her. "We've got a battle to win!"

"Mariam!" shouted Max, reaching the top of the stairs. "Go down to the battle, Rei is injured and needs your help. Hurry!" Upon hearing this, Mariam sprinted all the way down the stairs to Rei.

"Taste ice, freaks!" shouted Tala as he made ice shards rain upon the area around him, smashing through the skulls of the undead all the downwards until they hit the floor.

"Very impressive" smirked Michael as he decapitated a demon with the razor sharp edge of his shield.

"Being a captain of Ceril, you need to be in good shape" Tala smirked back at Michael as they carried on the battle.

Mystel and Mariah then joined in the battle, using their longbows to take out enemies from afar.

"Heh, Mariah, check this out!" grinned Mystel as he took out three arrows and placed them in his bow, pulled back and fired, making the arrows go off in three directions, killing different targets.

"Not bad at all Mystel" smiled Mariah back to him. "But can you top this?" Mariah launched a single arrow, it struck a target, then went through them! it kept going and hit another demon and then another until it came to rest in the skull of a demon.

"What the? How the hell did you do that!" exclaimed Mystel, looking at Mariah, eyes wide open.

"Maybe your not as good you think?" smiled Mariah in a cute way before carrying on the fight.

* * *

><p>"Just relax Rei, I nearly have it out" said Mariam calmly, as she tried to take a shard of the explosive barrel out of Rei's stomach.<p>

"What happened?" questioned Rei. "I was fighting, then suddenly I fell off the wall. Why is that?"

"Salima took out some explosive barrels that you happened to be standing next to, I guess she didn't see you until it was too late" answered Mariam as she pulled the shard out. "Right, we need to get you a potion that cures these kinds of things. We need to the get to that potion shop near the gate fast" she added as she picked Rei up from off the floor and supported him on the way there.

* * *

><p>"The Fell Dragon is attacking!" screamed a soldier in terror as the Fell Dragon came closer to the wall. Tala put his dual blades back in their scabbards and ran towards the edge of the wall, he stood on the edge and let himself fall off. Instead of plunging to his death, he landed on the Fell Dragon's back as it went to attack the Exidoian soldiers. He climbed up the Fell Dragon's spine and managed to divert it away from Max, who was down below the Fell Dragon.<p>

"Time for you to go down you fire breathing bastard!" shouted Tala as he unsheathed his dual longswords and stabbed them into the eyes of the Fell Dragon. The Fell Dragon roared in pain and began to fly upwards, higher and higher into the sky until they had almost passed the clouds, Tala then flipped over the front of the Fell Dragon and stabbed into it's heart, sliding all the way down the Fell Dragon with his blades, opening up the Fell Dragon until it was split in two, spilling its guts towards the ground.

Tala then realised he was falling from a great height. He then spun around in mid air, facing towards the sky as he fell. He awaited for the noise of the battle to get louder, it eventually got louder and louder until he decided to spin around and face the ground. He was nearing floor of the great wall until he decided to spring into action, using his ice magic, he created a slide-like path for him to drop down to safety. Upon landing, Michael looked over to him with the biggest of grins on his face.

"Crazy Cerilian bastards!" laughed Michael as he cut down another undead soldier.

* * *

><p>Rei and Mariam were nearing the potion shop until their worst fears happened. The front gate was finally smashed open, demons and undead charged towards Rei instead of Mariam. Which, in turn, Mariam stood in front of Rei.<p>

"You will not have him!" she cried out at them. "Not while I'm still kicking!" she then used her crystal orb to create a large tsunami wave that washed a lot of undead away, if not, breaking them into pieces. "Come on now Rei, were almost there" she said to him reassuringly as she kicked the door open to the shop. She instantly recognized which one was the one she was looking for.

"How long will it take for the effect to kick in?" asked Rei as Mariam grabbed the potion.

"If my guess is correct, it should take about five minutes. Now drink it Rei, your friends need you" she spoke softly as she handed Rei the potion.

* * *

><p>"Damnit!" cursed Michael. "They've busted through the gate, Men! down to the gate quickly!" he shouted as the Exidoian soldiers quickly ran to the gate, followed by Tala and the others.<p>

"For the world of Valen!" shouted Max as he and Tala overtook the Exidoian army in the charge.

Max began blasting the undead back through the gate with his water magic, Julia then combined her lightning attack into the fray. Tyson, not wanting to be left out used his wind magic to create a tornado that sucked them up into the air as Tala froze the undead on their way back down, making them shatter to pieces upon impact with the floor.

"The sun is rising" smiled Michael. "This fight is in our favour!"

Eventually, the potion shop door was kicked off it's hinges as a revitalized Rei and Mariam came out and proceed to smash the undead that was unfortunate enough to stand in their way.

"There you are, Rei" smiled Tala while beheading a demon. "I was beginning to think you'd miss out on all the fun"

"If this is what you call fun" laughed Rei. "Then I'm having a blast!"

They eventually managed to drive the demons and undead back and out of the city. Not a single demon or undead was spared as the Exidoian's celebrated their victory.

"We did it!" chanted Max, leaping for joy with Mystel. "We sent them back to hell once more!"

"Good job guys" said Michael, giving Tala a handshake. "On behalf of all the Exidoian's. I'm glad you guys came along, God knows what would have happened if you didn't"

"Well" smiled Tala. "You could call it a case of just in the nick of time"

"Right, I want a word with you" growled Julia at Salima, grabbing her by the collar of her robe. "What the hell is wrong with you! Ever since you joined us you've been nothing but trouble, you've nearly sent Rei to his death twice! You really need to sort yourself out, or better yet, go home!" she then threw Salima aside and walked off, leaving Salima to slump to her knees and bury her face in her hands.

"We did it Rei!" smiled Mariam, hugging him tightly.

"Yeah, we did... uh, could you let go? your crushing me" he said as Mariam let go. "Hey, where's Salima? We have a victory to celebrate" He then noticed Salima crying a short distance away, he then sprinted over to her. "Hey, Salima. What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry Rei, I've put you in harms way too often, I've nearly gotten you killed twice. I'm a burden to you and this mission, I'll go and pack my things and leave... I'm sorry!" she then stood and ran off. Rei was stunned by this, but instantly ran after her.

"My my" smiled Judy as she walked towards Tala and Michael. "That was very impressive of you and your friends to lead us to victory"

"You flatter us too much, Queen Judy" smiled Tala. "I think the credit really goes to the Exidoian soldiers, they fought fiercely than any other army I've seen"

"Well, anyways I'm sure you have other Kingdoms to unite to this cause, but know this Captain Tala, the people of Iorka will standy by you in this cause and will help you"

"Thank you queen Judy" bowed Tala respectfully. "I must go now and gather my group to set off, I'll speak to you again before we depart"

* * *

><p>End of chapter 7<p> 


	8. The Black Dranzer Within

Welcome everybody, to chapter eight of Uprising! Hope your all enjoying the story so far. Let's get right into it shall we?

And so our tale continue...

* * *

><p>Raul stood outside the Valkov mansion, back pressed against the wall with a scowl on his face. He was also looking down at the floor, the maids and servants could feel the anger radiating off him.<p>

"Damn that Julia, always wrecking everything for me!" growled Raul as Joseph and Dunga approached him.

"Whoa dude" chuckled Joseph. "You need to lighten up a little, your too aggressive"

"If it makes you feel better" interrupted Dunga, standing in front of Joseph. "You can take your frustrations out on me, put your hands up, Raul, give me all you got"

Raul brought up his fists and neared Dunga, he didn't want to literally hurt him. But his anger and instincts took over, he took a few steps back and ran as fast as he could at Dunga and tackled him to the ground, brought his fists back, and proceeded to beat the living hell out of Dunga. He was throwing left and rights at Dunga in anger, without realising it, he had busted Dunga's nose.

"Dude, stop" pleaded Joseph, trying to get Raul off Dunga, but was not doing a good job of it. Luckily, some servants passing by managed to pull him off of Dunga.

"Wow, Raul" chuckled Dunga through the pain. "You had a lot of anger welled up in you, make sure to use it on the demons"

* * *

><p>"My lord Kai" said Johnny, approaching the King, who was sat in his throne with a bored posture. "Princess Hilary of Kilarim is here to see you"<p>

"Allow her in" said Kai coldly. Johnny nodded and allowed her through. She was wearing blue trousers that had been cut at the shins, and regular shoes. She had a sleeveless leather tunic as a shirt with long, elbow length black gloves. She was not wearing a princess crown either.

"King Kai" she spoke politly as she bowed.

"For a princess, I would have thought you'd have gone for a more regal look" said Kai with a light chuckle as he stood up.

"Well, I don't really like having that sort of attention" Hilary replied, walking forward a few more steps.

"So, you've come a long way, what brings you here then?" questioned Kai, looking confused.

"I've come here to talk you about your position here" answered Hilary, Kai sighed with disgust.

"Oh God not another one here to tell me to step down!" growled Kai as he put his hand to his head as if he had a headache.

"No, I'm not here for that my lord. I'm here to help you" pleaded Hilary.

"Oh, this'll be good" Kai laughed slightly before urging Hilary to continue.

"The Darkness is coming Kai, very soon, all that is good on this earth will be destroyed and reduced to ashes. Yet your fighting with other countries that can be our closest allies? That's not right Kai, and even you know that. Whatever happened to kind hearted, honest young man I used to know?. The man who wanted to change the world for the better? The person who always puts his friends first? The person I fell in love with..." Hilary blushed as she said the last part, before carrying on. "He's still there, deep down inside you. That Kai is the hero Valen needs, not some cold ruler who wants to destroy those who want to help us"

Kai was rather taken aback by this, no one had ever made that sort of statement towards him, she actually wanted to help him!

"You... want to help me?" said Kai in shock and suprise, staggering back a little bit.

"Yes I want to help you Kai. This is not you at all, I can help you, if you let me" replied Hilary with a sweet smile as she walked closer too him.

"Thank you Hilary, It's very kind of you to hel- UGH AAAAHH!" Kai began to scream and clutch his head in pain as a dark aura shot out from him.

"Kai!" cried Hilary as she rushed forward towards him, but was struck back and sent skidding across the floor, hitting back first into a pillar.

"I don't need help from the likes of you!" growled Kai in a very dark and demonic voice.

"Y-your not Kai. Who are you? what are you?" questioned Hilary as she tried to stand up.

"You catch on pretty fast girl! I am not Kai, I am the spirit that now controls Kai. I am the servant of the Darkness, I am the sacred spirit Black Dranzer!" was the answer Hilary got as black wings sprouted from Kai's back. "My plan is working, soon the world will be plunged into darkness. With the high lord Zeus ruling over all that lives!"

"W-w-what plan?" asked Hilary, half paralysed with fear.

"Like I'm going to the tell the likes of you! I wasn't born yesterday. No one can stop us now, not even you" growled Kai as he walked towards Hilary. She curled herself into a ball and began to cry in fear, rapidly shaking, fearing that each breath will be the last. Until Kai finally spoke. "Johnny!" Kai shouted as the dark aura dissapeared and the wings vanished.

"Yes my lord" answered Johnny, running through the doors.

"Take Hilary to the dungeons" answered Kai, back to his normal voice.

"But, she's the Princess of-"

"Just do it!" Kai growled, cutting Johnny off. He obeyed and took Hilary to the dungeons. As the door shut, Kai collapsed to his knees and began to sob. "What have I done..."

* * *

><p>Salima finally reached the palace and went to go and pack her things, she had just past through the door when...<p>

"Where are you off too?" asked Rei, he was already standing there, waiting for her.

"Rei? How did you get here before me? Actually, that does not matter now. I'm going" Salima answered, trying to push past Rei, but he refused to budge.

"Salima, you are just as important to this mission than Julia and the others. Hell, your more important than me in this mission. You are the healer, you help us get the vital edge in a victory. Without you however, we're just nothing more than regular soldiers"

"Really? because Julia sai-"

"Who gives a damn what Julia thinks? You have to believe in what you think. Other than her, we all want you here, Tala wouldn't have asked you to join us if he didn't."

"I hadn't looked at it that way" said Salima, as slight smile crept onto her face. "But, what about you? Are you afraid I'm gonna hurt you again?"

"Trust me Sal, I know it was an accident. You didn't mean it. Also, we have a whole nation and the Darkness after us, I think that would concern me more than getting hit by friendly fire" smiled Rei as he hugged Salima tightly. "Your the one that I love, why would I wan't you to leave?"

Tala and the others arrived to see them hugging. Kane just smiled at them, Tala smirked while glaring at Julia at the same time and Mystel just started raising his eyebrows at them, as if to suggest something. Which earn him a shove from Mariah.

"Hey, what was that for?" groaned Mystel in fake-pain.

"It's a sweet romantic moment. You don't just hint at sex because they are hugging each other" answered Mariah, pointing the finger at him.

"This once again proves that women are excellent mind readers" sighed Mystel as he quickly shut himself up.

"Hope you guys have packed your things since your here, were heading to Wilsmore as soon as possible" said Tala stepping forward, walking past Rei and Salima.

"I would accompany you on your mission" said Michael, walking up to Tala. "But someone has to gather the troops from across Iorka. I shall hope to see you at the battle for Ceril"

"Farewell then, my friend" smiled Tala as he shook hands with Michael. "We shall see you at the battle for Ceril"

"I can't wait!" smiled Mystel, looking at Max. "I can't wait to get started"

"Why is that my friend?" asked Max, leaning on his staff slightly.

"Wilsmore is full of highly attractive people. I've been there before, the rumours are true!" Mystel answered, smiling with glee at his own perverted thoughts.

"Some people never grow up do they?" sighed Mariah, smacking her hand across her forehead.

"You'll get used to them" said Salima, walking up to Mariah. "Though I think Mystel is gonna be handful"

"Nothing I can't handle" smirked Mariah. "It's just a good old fashion case of anything you can do, I can do better"

* * *

><p>"Great Zhilo's ghost!" cried Raul out loud. "When the hell is something gonna happen?"<p>

"Right now" answered Joseph. "Look" he pointed eastward to the sight of three men on horseback, two of them Raul recognized instantly. They where Garland and Spencer. The third man he did not recognize, he had green hair. He had a brown leather tunic on, with the sleeves almost draped over his hands. He had black cuffed boots that stopped short of his knees and grey trousers, though the trousers looked rather travel worn, as did the tunic. He also wore only one fingerless leather glove. He appeared to have a weapon, in the form of a long rapier on his right side, which made Raul quickly assume he was left handed.

"Did you hold this position like instructed?" asked Garland, dismounting from his horse.

"Yes, but absolutely nothing happened. Also, who is this who rides with you?"

"Allow me to introduce myself" said the green haired boy. "I am Oliver Polanski, two days from being eighteen years old and a member of the Kjori blades. at your service" he added as he bowed respectfully.

"Oliver?" said Raul in suprise. "I remember you back in Coviso, you needed help catching the renegade captain Miothrae"

"Raul Fernandez? It's been a while, so good to see you!" smiled Oliver. "Yes I remember that day very well, if it wasn't for you, Miothrae would have crossed the Mighty Sea and be out of our reach"

"And now we meet again" smiled Raul. "Exactly one and a half years later" he added as he gave Oliver a hug. "So then, down to our most important task. The Resistance, when are the Kjori army going to arrive?"

"Should take about six days" said Oliver, who then began to pace back and forth, arms crossed. "If my guess is correct, by that time Rei and Tala will be back from gathering the others, and the battle shall begin"

"Raul!" shouted Miguel, who was running towards them with Robert, looking badly wounded. "You've got to come quick, Ozuma has been captured!"

"Captured? How? When?" Raul began questioning.

"Someone must have gave the guards a tip-off, they tracked Ozuma and us relentlessly" answered Miguel, gasping for breath.

"We managed to take a few down, but they were too many" added Robert, looking down at the floor in disgust. "We have failed him, what are we to do now?"

"We'll break in a get him out that's what!" shouted Raul triumphantly.

"What! are you crazy?" shouted Miguel in shock.

"Well I don't see anyone else suggesting anything other than to lay down and die" Raul fired back as he walked off in the direction of Kuljia.

* * *

><p>Tala and the others began their journey to Wilsmore, heading north west out of Exidoia.<p>

"Hey Rei" said Mariam, making her horse ride a bit faster to catch up with Rei. "We made quite a team back there didn't we?"

"If you say so" chuckled Rei, slowing his horse down slightly. "Your tsunami wave attack was very impressive"

"Thanks Rei, also. I never got to thank you for saving my life out there so erm, thanks Rei" said Mariam, as a slight rose tint came across her cheeks.

"I'm not gonna let anyone fall, not while I can help it" smiled Rei as he proceeded on ahead to converse with Tala

"I'd... be careful on Mariam from now on Salima" warned Mariah, doing a quick double take between the two girls.

"Why?" questioned Salima. "She doesnt pose a threat to us" she added as Mariam looked behind her and waved at Salima, who waved back.

"She loves Rei, you might not notice that but I do. She's getting a lot closer to Rei than you should let her. You should do something about it, because if you don't, you're gonna lose him"

"I'll have to keep an eye on her then" replied Salima, Mariah's warning was a wake up call, loud and clear.

"I can keep both eyes on her" smirked Mystel as his eyes popped out of his head. Mariah was just about to slap him for that remark when suddenly...

Bang!

Stone giants appeared from out of nowhere, quickly outnumbered the heroes. Tala and the others got their swords ready, but knew they would struggle as a stone giant went to attack Tala.

"Shit" cursed Tala as he forced his horse to dodge and attack when suddenly the area was bathed in a brightlight followed by a large shockwave...

* * *

><p>What's gonna happen to the heroes? Will Kai fight his inner demons? Will Raul and the gang break Ozuma out of the dungeons?<p>

All will be revealed in chapter 9


	9. The Angelic Warrior

Heeeere's chapter 9! Welcome to the latest installment in the Uprising story, hope you all enjoy it. So before we left our last chapter, our heroes were outnumbered by stone giants. Then a bright light followed by a shockwave knocked our heroes down. Now you'll get the chance to see what happens with our heroes and whever or not Raul and the others rescue Ozuma.

Special thanks to Nazrita and AquilaTempestas for following this story the whole way through, you guys rock!

And now our story continues...

* * *

><p>... The shockwave knocked the heroes off their horses, landing on the ground with a thud. Rei got to his feet and pointed to the sky.<p>

"Now I rarely ever use curse words... But what the fuck is that?" he screamed as the bright light then shaped itself into and arrow and rocketed towards the floor, causing a loud explosion to happen, knocking Rei down again from the earth moving effect.

This bright light had cause a massive crater next to them, it then shot up and floated eye level with the stone giants. It was not a bright light however, it was a person!. A person that was bathed and radiating in a blinding white angelic light, this person shot forward at the first stone giant, brought his fist back and flew at the stone giant and unleashed a mighty punch. It was so powerful, the stone giant shattered to pieces! Then he targeted the next one and flew through it, with the stone giant falling apart seconds later. He then repeated this with the remainder of the stone giants until he got his hands on the last one. He then flew up with it high into the sky, then slammed back down with the force of a thousand men. In which it created another large crater and sent out yet another shockwave.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Tala as he sat up after the last shockwave, everyone nodded in agreement. Rei was crouched over Salima, shielding her from the blast. Max had stabbed his staff into the ground and kept a tight grip on it. Mariah had flown backwards and landed on top of Mystel.

"Well, isn't this a fun position?" smirked Mystel. Mariah shrieked in terror and jumped off Mystel as quick as she could.

"Are you implying something here?" questioned Mariah, Mystel suddenly went silent. "Yes! I finally found the method to shut you up with!" she punched the air in victory after this comment.

This angelic-like person then appeared before them. As the bright light dissapeared, it showed he wore white mage robes and had spiked ginger hair. He began to approach Rei, who in turn stood up.

"We meet at last" said the young man kindly, who in truth looked more like a teenager than a man. "Your the heroes of Valen? I am Brooklyn Masefield, the spirit of the teenage hero from ages past. I have been sent from Eternia to aid you"

"So, your an angel right?" asked Mystel, brooklyn nodded at his comment.

"That I am, I won't be able to return to Eternia until I aid you in the final victory. Rei, your parents are proud of what your doing. They hope your proudly honour the Kon name, which in no doubt you will"

"Hate to interrupt the heartwarming moment here" Julia spoke sarcastically. "But, what the hell is that over there?" she pointed in the direction of it. It seemed to get closer and closer.

"A huge warband of demons?" shouted Salima in shock.

"We must go now!" shouted Tala as he jumped on his horse, the others followed suit, all except for Max.

"Max, what are you doing?" shouted Julia. "Don't be stupid, you'll get yourself killed!"

"I'm tired of running" shouted Max, he got his staff ready. "Head to Wilsmore, stop the Darkness, kill Kai and save Valen. Don't you dare come back for me!" before Julia could answer, Max ran towards the demons and raised a large tsunami attack. Using all the strength he could muster, his rage and anger. Everything. To wash the demons into the craters and their deaths. But the strain was too much on poor Max's body. To use his ultimate strength and create a tsunami that large, he sacrficed his life in stopping the demons. His body dropped lifelessly to the floor.

"MAX!" was all that was heard.

* * *

><p>Raul and the others approached the entrance of the dungeon.<p>

"This is it, ready to save Ozuma?" asked Raul, drawing his sword, ready for combat.

"Let's do it!" shout Oliver, unsheathing his rapier as they busted the door open into the dungeons, to their suprise, not a single guard was too be seen.

"Hey, this might be easier that I thought" said Raul, smirking as he found the cell keys on a table and began to the look through the cells in search of Ozuma.

"Don't you think it's a little odd that the door of the dungeons opened so easily?" questioned Oliver to Garland. "Also, no guards inside here and the cell keys are just left on the table? Something's definately not right here" Garland nodded and began to look around, just incase of an ambush. Eventually, Raul came to Ozuma's cell.

"Don't worry Ozuma" said Raul heroically. "We'll have you out in a second"

"What are you doing here to idiot?" growled Ozuma. "Can't you idiots tell that it's a trap!" Oliver looked to his right and sure enough, a group of guards stood, shields and swords at the ready.

"Oh shut up!" Raul growled back. "At least be grateful that were at least trying to save your ass!" He eventually opened the cell and grabbed his sabre, ready to battle once more.

"You think your so tough kid?" said the head guard, looking Raul up and down. "You must be either brave or stupid to think you can beat the likes of me. Rick, the mighty dungeon guard!" he bellowed as he grabbed an axe and charged at Raul. Raul managed to bring his sword up just in time to block it.

"Well don't just stand there, do something!" shouted Raul to the others, which snapped them out of their thoughts and into action. The others were dispatching the other guards with ease, but Raul was struggling against Rick. Every strike he made, Rick countered. Every attack with made, Raul blocked, but only just due to Rick's pure strength. Eventually, their weapons clashed together and became deadlocked. Raul tried to use all his might to force Rick back, but Rick was just too strong and whacked Raul's sabre from his hands and strangled him against the wall with the handle of his axe.

"Any last words?, foolish boy!" smirked Rick triumphantly.

"Yeah" said Raul, choking at the same time. "Balls up!" Raul administered a large kick and connected with Rick, in the testicles! Rick recoiled in pain as Raul staggered over to his sabre and stabbed it through Rick's throat. "Time for you to be sent to Hell!" screamed Raul as he summoned a fireball from his free hand, which spread from his free hand to his sword hand and into Rick's throat, burning him alive from the inside. Until at last, Rick died.

"Bloody hell" exclaimed Oliver. "That has to be the most brutal execution I've ever seen" his jaw nearly dropped by the time he finished.

"We can worry about that later, guys" interrupted Garland. "I think now is a good time to get the hell out of here!" the others nodded in agreement and headed out.

* * *

><p>The heroes ran back towards Max's fallen body.<p>

"Brooklyn" said Tala, crouching down beside Max's body. "Can you check exactly what happened to him?" Brooklyn nodded and stuck his hand through Max's chest. His hand went through in a ghost-like fashion, after shuffling his hand around inside for a little while, Brooklyn gave them the news.

"His heart couldn't take the strain, it exploded. He's sacrificed himself for you, don't let it go to waste" said Brooklyn sadly, the others nodded in agreement.

"What will you do in the mean time Brooklyn?" asked Salima, leaning on Rei's shoulder.

"I'll take his body back to Exidoia and explain this to Queen Judy. Once that's done, I'll scout the path ahead of you to Wilsmore to make sure you get there safely" he then picked up Max's body and shot up into the air and flew towards Exidoia.

"I think we should set up camp soon" sighed Tala, looking at the upset faces around him. "We can't carry on in this state"

A few hours later, they had set up camp and the atmosphere in the camp was horrible. Everyone was glum or crying. Rei was sat in front of the fire, legs crossed with a hunting knife in one hand and some wood in the other, he was carving his family sword out of this wood that he found lying around.

"Don't dwell on it too much Rei" came a voice from behind him, it was Mariam. "You focus on something like this too much then your going to lose sight on what's important here"

"Dwell on it?" questioned Rei, putting the hunting knife and wood aside and standing up. "We just lost a good friend out there, are your telling me not to care?"

"No, I didn't mean that. What I meant to say is, think about it positively, do what he wished. Carry on to Wilsmore and stop Kai and the Darkness, isn't that the right thing to do?"

"I'd rather fight a losing battle with those demons, than to have a good friend die. Use your brain next time!" growled Rei as he stormed off past her, walking towards a large hill.

"You sure love putting your foot in it don't you?" sighed Julia, sitting up from the square stool she was sat on. She then walked towards Mariam, twirling a lock of hair around her index fingers.

"I don't know what you mean" mocked Mariam, imitating Julia's voice.

"Listen here and listen good, jackass!" growled Julia, grabbing hold of Mariam's shirt and drawing her fist back. "Rei's a good soul, he cares about his friends and would sacrifice anything for anyone with the drop of the coin, and you don't even care about him grieving? You sicken me. I don't even trust you either, you better watch yourself around me and anyone else here for that matter. Cos if you stray one foot out of line, I'll see to it personally that you get your head kicked in. Got it!" Mariam could not speak, only nod as Julia roughly threw her aside and walked off back to the stool she was sat on.

* * *

><p>Coming up in chapter 10: Raul is sent to Meriscas to track down one of Kai's top assassin, the heroes head to Wilsmore and Kai fights to regain control.<p>

You can't wait? Well I guess this means that chapter 10 will be up pretty quickly.

I'm really happy with the success this story is getting. (Well, for someone of my level anyways XD) It's now my most viewed story, and most reviewed. And it's all thanks you guys, hope to see more people interested in this story. Keep fighting my fellows!

Once again, thank you guys, this means alot! :)


	10. Dark Magic Wielder: King

What's up my fellow Uprisers! Here's another chapter for you. As always, enjoy it, as the chapter 11 will be with you by next week at the latest.

And now our story continues...

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><p>"Raul" Ozuma spoke, walking towards Raul who was sat against a wall, watching the sun rise up. "I never got to thank you for getting me out of that prison, so I guess I'll thank you now"<p>

"We couldn't just leave you behind, Ozuma" Raul responded, with the tone in his voice beginning to soften. "I'm just glad it gave me an oppurtunity to actually do something" he walked over to a pond that was nearby, he picked up a small pebble and dropped it in. Watching the ripples form in the water was something that gave Raul a calm feeling, the ability to just relax and forget all his troubles. He dropped down to his knees and switched around into a sitting position.

"As a matter of fact Raul, I've got a little assignment for you" Ozuma began to walk towards Raul and sat down beside him. "I've gotten word that Kai's top assassin has been taking innocent people and murdering them, and claiming that they are a menace to the kingdom. He knows all of us so it would be hopeless. But you are our one advantage in this situation, he does not know of you, as your from Cosivo. He won't expect you attacking, but when he does, it'll be too late. You'll be able to find him in Meriscas, a twenty minute travel on horseback. In that town, there is an ally there waiting for you under my instructions"

"Will anyone else be accompanying me on this quest?" Raul questioned, wondering if it would just be him entrusted with this task.

"Other than the ally I mentioned earlier, no, it will only be you. Go and get yourself prepared, the assassin's grave await's him" Raul nodded to Ozuma's orders, before getting to his feet and rather hastily walking away, eager to prove himself once more.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure were going the right way?" questioned Rei, unsure about Tala's sense of direction.<p>

"Yes Rei" Tala answered for the tenth time that early morning, he began looking around him. "Ah, this way"

"We past that set of oddly shaped trees six times already!" groaned Julia, sitting down on a fallen tree to stretch her stiff legs due to the all the walking. "Just face it Tala, were lost"

"I guess so" sighed Tala in defeat as he then followed suit and sat down. "I'm guessing cannibalism is on the menu if we don't get out of this mess!"

"Wait a second" said Mariah, looking around. "Where is Salima?" the others began to look around in search of her. Rei looked up and spotted her atop a tree.

"Sal, what are you doing up there?" asked Rei, climbing up after her.

"I'm looking for a way out of this forest, mind you, if it wasn't for the world being in peril I wouldn't mind staying here" answered Salima, who continued to look around.

"Hey, Tyson come here" Mystel said quietly. "You see Salima? Look all the way up that tree and admire the view!" Tyson looked where Mystel had instructed and a large cheese eating grin appeared on his face as he and Mystel exchanged high fives. Suddenly two arrows flew towards them and pinned them to the tree opposite the one they were looking up, ruining their fun.

"Are there any sensible men left on this planet?" sighed Mariah, putting her bow down as she sat beside Julia.

"Apparantly not!"

* * *

><p>Kai walked through the dungeons, staggering about in a weakened kind of state. He noticed there was numerous dead bodies lying about, splattered in fresh blood, though he didn't care until he fell to his knees infront of the cell that housed Hilary.<p>

"This is not you, Kai" Hilary said to him softly, crouching down near Kai.

"Yeah, I kinda noticed that" said Kai, his voice sounding rather weak. "I-i-i-I can't think properly, I struggle to eat, I can't sleep. Black Dranzer has ate away at me, I'm nowhere near the person you used to know. I'm gone, dead. I can't be fixed"

"Your wrong Kai, you still have an entire future ahead you" Hilary continued in her soft voice, sliding her hand through the cell bars using it lift up Kai's chin, so he was now looking at her. "You can be fixed, you have to fight Black Dranzer. Once you've achieved that, you can put things right again. Then you live the life you always wanted, surrounded by friends, have Rei and Salima back on good terms with you"

"Rei? Salima? I miss then so much" Kai broke down and began to sob into his hands. "If only I could go back and stop myself from doing what I did, I would. But I can't, Black Dranzer won't let me forget" Kai then looked up at Hilary, her face showing an expression of worry and care for him. He wiped away the tears and stood up. "I'm gonna set things right, starting with you"

"Wh-what do you mean, Kai?" questioned Hilary, backing away slowly.

"I'm going to fight Black Dranzer, keep his will separated from my own. Eventually I can draw him out and engage in combat with him. When it's all said and done, I'll be victorious, I'll surrender the crown to Rei and leave across the Mighty Sea, prehaps to reflect upon myself before returning" Kai then pulled out the cell key and stabbed it into the key slot. The dark aura began to explode out of him, screaming in pain and agony, Kai fought against Black Dranzer in his mind.

"Kai" gasped Hilary, almost unable to comprehend what was going on. "What do I do?"

"Run" Kai answered, voice growing weaker.

"W-what?"

"I said run!" screamed Kai as loud as he could. With his last ounce of strength against the Black Dranzer, Kai twisted the key and flung open the cell door. "Run now damnit!" Hilary nodded as a silent tear fell to the ground.

"Thank you Kai" Hilary ran out as fast as she could until she was out of sight. Kai collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

"Still alive" sighed Kai with a voice of dissapointment as he forced himself to his feet.

* * *

><p>Raul finally arrived in Meriscas. The town was a rather large one at that, almost large enough to be called a city. Raul dismounted from his horse and began to walk the streets, he sensed something different in the people here. They were actually looking at him!. They were not strange looks either, men were smiling at him politely and raising a hand of welcome, while women began blushing and brushing strands of hair out of their eyes to get a better look at him.<p>

"Something tells me your not used to this attention" chuckled a voice from behind Raul. Raul turned around a saw a young man who looked roughly the same age as him. He had a darker skin tone to most of the men in Meriscas and had silver hair, long enough that one of his eyes was not visible through the strands of hair. He wore black leather trousers and tattered and worn white trenchcoat.

"Ah, so you must be my ally that Ozuma talked about" smiled Raul, approaching him. "But tell me, who are you?"

"I am King" he said, bowing respectfully.

"A king? cool! A king of what may I ask?"

"No, no. You have it wrong, I am King"

"Yeah, a King of what?"

"I AM King!"

"A king of what!"

"My name IS King!" groaned King as he smacked his hand against his forehead.

"Oh, sorry about that King, but if you said your name is King instead of saying I am King, then that whole fiasco would not have just happened" smiled Raul, almost laughing at how stupid the situation was.

"Point taken, now straight onto business. The name of the assassin were going to kill goes by the name of Boris Balkov. He appears to be in his mid-40's, but don't let that fool you. For he is powerful and very quick, quicker than many of the assassin's themselves!"

"He sounds dangerous, let's put him too an end now!" smiled Raul, grabbing his sword, ready for battle.

"Eager to get started are we?" smirked King. "I think you and me will get along just fine then"

* * *

><p>"Julia" smiled Tala, sitting down near her. "What was life like for you and your brother in Cosivo?"<p>

"Your actually talking to me?" said Julia in all honesty. "I'm suprised actually, but since you insist, I'll tell you of our life in Cosivo. We lost our father two days after we were born, he fell during battle, fight alongside your father I believe. Our mother died when we were five of a long illness that she never recovered from, that left us in the custody of a family friend, Romero. He raised us well, he taught us to defend ourselves. Most of our style of fighting is self taught. Raul was always eager to prove himself as a great hero, be as great as our father. If it was my wish, I wouldn't be sitting here. Raul would be here instead. I pleaded with Ozuma to let Raul go instead, but like many things in life, I was chosen over Raul. I don't know why, he has the drive, the heart and the talents to be much greater than me, but they always choose me over him. It hurts him a lot that he is restricted, and that I'm granted the freedom the do these things. Maybe, just maybe, that will change"

"Wow, I never thought of it that way, Julia" said Tala in suprise. "You really look out for your brother"

"He's the only family I've got, so it's a definate given that I'm gonna look out for him. I know that if he was here, he would have definately lived up to the hopes and dreams he had for himself. I'm getting sick of him standing on the sides, watching me doing everything. I want him to be the hero he want's to be"

"Guys" shouted Salima, sliding down the tree with Rei following. "I found the right path out of here"

"For once can't women be stupid in anything?" muttered Mystel to himself.

* * *

><p>"I think it's safe to say this was the worst idea I ever thought of!" shouted King over to Raul while trying to fend off assassins with his staff.<p>

"Well, I think the charge head on like maniac plan was not gonna work in the first place" Raul shouted back over to King as he cut down a few assassin's with his sabre while using his free hand to shoot fireballs at the rest in hopes of slowing them down. An assassin broke free from the flames and prepared to stab Raul in the chest when suddenly he fell through the ground and ended up in a cellar of sorts with King standing next to him.

"You okay Raul?" asked King, putting a hand on Raul's shoulder.

"King, what the hell was that! One minute I'm gonna get stabbed, the next I'm in a cellar with you. How did we get here?" King answered that question by falling through the floor then reappearing on Raul's other side. "Okay that's just wierd" sighed Raul, wondering what King was capable of.

"Well, I posess black magic" King continued as he began to pace the cellar, extending his left arm and making odd hand gestures to emphasize his point. "Under Queen Merin's rule, which predates the rule of Zhilo Arvani by a few years, black magic was to be outlawed. No mage posessing black magic within the lands of Ceril would live, they would be hunted down and killed mercilessly as an example to all the rest. When Zhilo Arvani took the throne, he became a bit more fairer to the wielders of black magic, unlike his mother. We were spared, allowed to live, but we had to make sure to keep our powers in check. Then came the rule of King Kai, once again we were hunted down, but not only us, but our family and friends too. Boris carries out the black magic wielding mage assassinations gladly, killing at will. We must stop him"

"Well, that does sound like a good idea" nodded Raul, looking around the cellar. "But where exactly are we?"

"If my guess is correct" said King, observing a few barrels around him. "We are in the very large cellar of the Kemora tavern, one of the best taverns in northern Valen. It's a popular place, especially for the assassin's. Who around here, go by the name The Blood Hand. They are good friends with the barman, so they can brawl with just about anyone that pleases them. If memory serves me correctly, there should be a tunnel down here so we can get inside the ruined for they call home." King moved a heavy stack of barrels and behind them was a hole which did look like it had been dug out. "Great ghost, Raul. We found it. You ready to be a hero?" asked King, turning around to look at Raul.

"Ready as I'll ever be, let's get to it!" King nodded with Raul's comment and walked into the tunnel, with Raul following after him.

* * *

><p>Salima lead the others through the forest after discovering the way out. Julia lagged behind a little before she ran up to Salima and slowed down to walk, hoping to talk to Salima.<p>

"Hey, Sal" Julia spoke up, trying to start a conversation. "I'm sorry that I lashed out at you like that in Exidoia. It was totally out of order, and you only did that by accident"

"It's okay Julia, you had every reason to be angry with me. I've been somewhat reckless during our quest, but I will change that, you can count on it"

Rei was now walking at the back of the group, making sure no one was left behind. Then Mariam slowed down a bit to walk beside him.

"What is it you wan't to talk about Mariam?" sighed Rei, not really interested in talking to her at this moment in time. "Cause to be brutally honest with you I aint even remotely intereste-"

"I love you Rei!" said Mariam, grabbing Rei by the shirt and tried to kiss him. Only to be pushed away.

"W-what the hell are you doing Mariam?" questioned Rei, with a half confused-half mad look on his face. Upon him saying that, the rest of the group turned around to listen.

"I love Rei, your all I think about and we deserve to be together for all eternity" said Mariam with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Now I hate to use curse words. But have you lost you fucking mind! There is only room for one woman in my life, and that's Salima. Not you, never you, it will always and forever be Salima. Is that why you've been talking to me? To try and drive a wedge between us? I only talked to you because I thought you were friend, but you obviously can't take the fact that I'm in love with Salima. Get out of my sight now!" Rei growled as he shoved past her and continued walking. The others followed Rei, who was now walking forward with Salima. Tala looked at Mariam for a little while, before shaking his head and continuing onwards with the others.

* * *

><p>Kai managed to stagger back into the throne room, almost looking like he was dragging his feet behind him. He came up the throne and collapsed onto it.<p>

"Well, you look like the living dead!" laughed Johnny to himself. The servants and maids looked at him nervously as Kai looked like he was going to rip Johnny's head off.

"Could you come here for a second?" Kai spoke calmly. Johnny cockily walked up to Kai, with a kind of spring in his step and stood directly in front of Kai. Kai sighed, clamly got up off the throne and connected with a hard punch to Johnny's face. Johnny fell backwards, recoiling from the pain and fell down the steps leading up the throne.

"Ow, what the hell was that for!" groaned johnny, clutching his bow bleeding forehead in pain.

"You mocked me! So you got your punishment, do it again and I'll make sure to burn you alive as well. Is that understood!" Johnny only nodded as he began to shake with fear as he fled the throne room. "And that goes for all you here as well!" Kai continued to growl at the maids and servants. "or you'll suffer the same fate, now leave me in peace!" the servants and maids ran out as quickly as they could, in fear of invoking Kai's wrath. He backed up and slouched back down on the throne, propping his head up with his hand. "None of this should be happening, but I can't stop now"

* * *

><p>Coming up in chapter 11: Raul and King do battle with Boris, Tala faces a tough challenge and Hilary arrives in Dinsmir.<p> 


	11. Struggles against the dark powers

Spinster: Hail and well met fellow Uprisers! I hope your ready for another installment for Uprising, there's plenty of twists and turns and suprises still in store. And some are in this very chapter

Salima: Great! I was wondering when you were gonna update this

Zeo: Well, he has been busy Salima. At least give him that

Kai: Spinster hopes you all enjoy this latest installment and thanks all you Upriser's out there who have been patient.

Lian: Why don't you do the honours Kai?

Kai: With pleasure... And so our story continues...

* * *

><p>Raul and King were coming to the end of the tunnel, evident by the fact they could hear distant conversations getting louder and louder. King motioned his hand to make Raul come to a stop, King then ran ahead while Raul stayed in place. Their was a cold and long silence, Raul wondered what had happened until he heard the sounds of battle echoing through the tunnel and judging by the sounds of men screaming in terror, Raul knew King was winning.<p>

"It's safe now Raul" King shouted through the tunnel, once the echo reached Raul's ears, he dashed through the tunnel and came out into what looked like a torture chamber. Bodies lay everywhere and blood decorated just about everything in sight. In the middle of this bloodbath of death was King, leaning casually on his staff.

"Do I really want to ask what you just did?" smirked Raul, kicking a dead hand that was in his path. "So, I guess you just summoned some undead to help you out?"

"Guilty as charged" laughed King, standing up straight and looked towards the door. "Let's get a move on shall we?" Raul nodded as they walked through the door.

* * *

><p>Salima lay awake in front of the fire, hoping to drift off to sleep. But she couldn't, she could not escape the feeling that Mariam was out to get her, when she cast a glance over to her, she found Mariam was already glaring daggers at her. As if she saw something that frightened her, she snapped her head back to the direction she was originally looking at.<p>

"Are you alright Salima?" asked Tyson, who was sat by the campfire, fidgeting with his thumbs as a form of entertainment. "You seem to be rather shaken up"

"Yeah, I am. Prehaps if I went for a little wander it could help" she went to stand up when a large throbbing pain shot through her head, she dropped to her knees as another throb of pain shot through her. But it was rather unusual, with each throb, a white aura began to emanate around her.

"What the hell?" question Tala as he stood up from the tree he was sitting against. "I ain't ever seen anything like that, Kane, do you know any answers to this? What kind of magic is this?" Kane observed the white aura, which had started glowing.

"It's obviously some form of magic, but I can't tell what. To be honest, I've never seen anything like this before. It works similar in a way to how Rei has those flashbacks, but I just cannot pinpoint what the problem is" Kane sighed in defeat. Suddenly, the aura dissapeared altogether.

"I feel okay now" sighed Salima, shifting round into a sitting position. "But whatever that was, it was extremely painful" she then looked around, someone was missing. "Where's Rei gone?"

"Oh, he went off for a walk. He'll be back later" said Julia, looking over at the path that Rei had walked up.

"In the middle of this forest? He has no idea what could be out there!"

"Salima, relax. This is Rei were talking about, he'll be fine" said Julia, calming Salima down.

"I hope so" Salima said to herself as she looked down at her feet.

* * *

><p>"Face it Kai, your never going to defeat me!" growled Black Dranzer, mocking Kai.<p>

"Oh yes I will, you can't stop me, my will is my own. You cannot break me. You worthless, vile demon!" Kai shouted as grabbed his sword and pointed it towards Black Dranzer. "I'll do this for the people of Ceril, the world of Valen, for Rei and Salima. And for my dear Hilary, I swear I will crush you!"

"You cannot stand against me, not now, or ever!" Black Dranzer shouted as it echoed around them, black flames erupted from the floor, cutting off any chance of an escape.

"I do not fear you, I wield the Dranzer blade! The true flames of Valen will cut you down and destroy you, do you hear me? Your time is at an end!" Kai launched himself forwards and swung his blade at Black Dranzer, stabbing it through his chest. Black flames erupted everywhere, forcing Kai to pull his blade out. Black Dranzer then came back with fists of flame, trying to land a devastating blow on Kai, but was just too fast, bringing his sword around at the right times to block the flaming hands, or more correctly claws, of Black Dranzer. Kai went in for another attack, but Black Dranzer dodged to the side and connected a blow with Kai's ribs. Kai then dropped to the ground in pain, he began to crawl towards his sword.

"Go on, crawl. Just like the pathetic scum you are, soon, I won't need you as a host, I'll become my own host. And the world of Valen will fall, and I will see your Hilary clapped in chains as my personal slave"

"You will NOT harm Hilary you bastard!" Kai screamed at the top of his lungs as he forced himself to his feet, grabbing his sword in the process and attacked again. This time, however, he was not letting up. Slashing at anything in his way, he then drew his sword back, ready for the killing blow, and launched himself at Black Dranzer. Black Dranzer dodged again and delivered a deadly hit to Kai's gut. Kai fell to the ground, curled up in a ball from the pain. He knew Black Dranzer had the upper hand in this battle, there was nothing he could do... unless.

"Had enough" laughed Black Dranzer, towering over his beaten victim, like a bird that had cornered a defensless prey.

"Not on your life!" Kai shouted as he rolled through Black Dranzer's legs and stood up. His blade was now glowing the true colours of flames, not these dark and twisted imitations. They were glowing light and hope, bright yellow and red. He raised the sword high above his head, flames shot into the air in straight line. "Dranzer, the true Dranzer. I summon you now!"Kai then rammed the sword into the ground and ripped a circle into the floor. Kai then moved out of the circle as the floor collapsed and Dranzer appeared. "Now, let's put things right. Attack Dranzer!"

* * *

><p>"Queen Judy!" shouted Michael, running into the throne room. "You've gotta come quickly, Max is dead"<p>

"What!" questioned Judy in shock, she stood up from the throne and ran with Michael to the courtyard. She saw Brooklyn walking towards her slowly, with Max's lifeless body in his hands.

"What happened!" asked Michael, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Cause if your the one that did this, you'll pay dearly for this"

"Relax, I did not do this to Max. He fell, defending Tala and the others from a horde of demons. He sacrificed himself to allow their quest to continue" Brooklyn then sprouted wings from his back. "As you can see, I'm an angel. I can head to Eternia and speak with Max if you wish"

"No, that is not needed" said Judy, trying her hardest not to cry. "You have my thanks for at least bringing Max's body back. He died a hero, to sacrifice a few so many more will live."

"Time is short for me here" sighed Brooklyn. "I must depart to aid the heroes, I will return someday" he added as he gently laid Max's body down and shot up into the air and flew off.

"Oh my dear Max" cried Judy, finally letting the tears fall. "Why did I let you go with Tala? Oh why!"

"Don't blame yourself, Tala or Max for this. None of us knew that this way going to happen. I must excuse myself, my queen. For I must rally the troops" said a sad and dejected Michael, who took one more look at Max's dead body, before walking away.

* * *

><p>"This must be the door to the courtyard" said King quietly, stopping in front of the door. "It's rather odd you know. This place is usually packed full of assassin's. It's almost like..." he opened the door to find hundreds of assassin's, weapons ready, facing them. "Almost like that was gonna happen"<p>

"I'm impressed you made it this far, not bad at all" said a voice amongst the crowd, clapping slowly as he made his way into the clearing. "If you are searching for I, Boris. Then you have found me, so, tell me why you have come all this way to see me? I suppose you didn't bring me any gifts"

"The only gift you'll get is being six feet under after I'm done with you!" shouted Raul, pointing at Boris, ready to battle his rival.

"Many people have come offering that gift, but all they have to show for it was an empty box" sighed Boris, sounding rather dissapointed. "Well, my men are bored and restless, let's say we give them a show" he added, smirking as he drew his weapon, a spear from out behind him.

"If that's your way of throwing down a duel, I'll gladly accept" Raul answered, grabbing the hilt of his sabre and preparing himself for battle.

Both men charged at each other, Boris got the first attack, with him being suprisingly quick. This caught Raul off guard, prompting Boris to slash at his chest, ripping his tunic open and drawing blood from his chest. Boris grinned in satisfaction as his men cheered him on behind him. Using his quick pace, Boris struck Raul again and again, ripping his tunic open more and slashing away at his chest again, drawing even more blood. Boris then began to walk away, thinking he was victorious. But when he turned around, he saw Raul staggering to his feet.

"Hmph, what's this? You have a knack for punishment boy, I guess this'll be more entertaining than I thought"

Boris turned around and lunged at him with his spear, but Raul managed to deflect the spear away and kicked Boris square in the chest. Boris fell backwards, his men gasped in suprise. He had never been knocked off his feet before, not ever! This angered Boris, who responded in kind with a devastating kick of his own to Raul's face, who hit the ground hard with a loud thud. Boris' men cheered yet again as Raul staggered to his feet again, only to meet another swift kick to the face. Raul fell to the ground again, this time helpless.

"It's time to end this battle" smirked Boris, walking away. He then threw his spear in the direction of the battered and beaten Raul, but it did not strike it's target...

From out of nowhere a young man with a long sword and a large square shield jumped into view, using his shield to knock the spear away. Several assassin's rushed him, but they were no match as the cut them all down. Angered by this, Boris sent more men after the young man, this time however, King stepped in. Using his dark magic, he summoned a prison around the assassin's, which quickly closed in on them and brutally destroyed any assassin that was foolish enough to get in his way. The young man then made his way towards Boris, cutting down many assassin's in his path. He finally broke through the assassin's, leapt into the air and delivered at deadly strike. Unfortunately, Boris dodged out of the way at the last minute, jumped on a horse and rode off.

"Grr, you win this round!" cursed Boris. "Men, retreat to Cosivo to take ship!" his men ran after him, ensuring his protection during the escape.

"Thanks" panted King, trying to catch his breath. "Tell me, who are you?" the young man in question grabbed the helmet he was wearing and threw it down, he sported extremely long green hair.

"I prefer to fight without a helmet, but oh well" sighed the young man. "I am Zeo Zagart, captain of the Karvlei. It's been our duty to protect the people of Meriscas and the surrounding areas from Boris and his men. Don't worry about Boris and his men, my troops are stationed outside this ruined fortress, they will give chase until Boris is cut down and his head placed on a spike!"

"Thank you, Zeo. Say, were looking for troops to help with the rebellion against King Kai."

"A rebellion you say? My, that is no small feat. I trust that you will have an army to combat The Darkness straight afterward, right?" King nodded at this statement. "My men have been treated poorly by Kai and his elite soldiers, ruthless bastards the lot of them. We shall gladly assist you, my men should be back in time to help you and your allies"

"Wait a second" said King, atonished and suprised. "You already know of the rebellion?"

"Spencer and Garland spoke to me about it when they passing through here on their way to Kjori a few days ago. It won't take my men long to track down Boris and kill him. We'll be ready to help the rebellion when the time comes" he then looked over at Raul, who was out cold and losing blood. "Quick, we need to get him some help! I know a healer by the name of Mathilda, prehaps she could help us" he added, picking up Raul as he and King headed for the exit.

* * *

><p>"Dranzer" screamed Kai, pointing his blade in the direction of Black Dranzer. "Finish him off now, victory is at hand!" Dranzer charged at Black Dranzer with all it's might, but suddenly, Black Dranzer struck it first. Dranzer froze before exploding into nothingness. Kai, battered and exhausted, fell to his knees in defeat. Black Dranzer then towered over him and delivered the killing blow...<p>

"ARRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHH!" screamed Kai as he shot up from his bed. "It's just a dream, Kai. Just a dream"

"Oh no it's not!" cackled Black Dranzer from inside Kai. "I'm claiming possession of your body, you will bend to my will or die! I'm taking over you in your sleep, look around you" Kai looked around and saw dead bodies of servants and maids. "This is what you were born to do, be a mudering cold hearted ruler. Massacaring anyone who gets in your way, from now on, I'LL be taking control as soon as you fall alseep!" Black Dranzer laughed aloud as his voice dissapeared.

"No, no... NO!" Kai screamed, looking at the blood on his hands. "Wheres Voltaire, maybe he can help me" Kai staggered to his feet and ran through the endless corridors. "I NEED HELP!" he screamed desperately and maniacally.

But his screams were not heard.

* * *

><p>Mystel: Wow, that was a very dark ending certainly<p>

Kai: Yeah... very scary *Starts looking around nervously*

Rei: That's the end of the chapter guys

Zeo: Hope you Uprisers have enjoyed it just as much as Spinster does writing it

Salima: So, what can we expect in chapter 12?

Zeo: Well, in chapter 12, we will see Hilary arriving in Dinsmir (Moved forward a chapter) Tala learning of the Wolborg stone, Salima's strange behaviour and Rei is missing.

Kai: That's all we got time for now

Tala: Farewell folks, until the next chronicle is written

Salima: Bye everyone

Mystel: See ya

Spinster: And remember, keep on smiling my fellow Uprisers!


	12. Wilsmore, battles and break ups

Spinster: Well met, fellow Upriser's! I hope you ready for another chapter in our tale

Zeo: This one only took him a week to do, though the next one will take significantly longer, as he doesn't wan't to drag out the story for too long

Mariah: Seems like a good idea to me

Rei: Though this probably means he may not update for a while, or he could do it in lightning speed

Tyson: As always, reviews are very much welcomed, you guys are the reason it's gone on as long as it has.

Kai: And remember to enjoy it, and we sure hope you will

Spinster: Will you do the honours Tala?

Tala: Sure, and so our tale continues...

* * *

><p>Tala awoke to sound of a bird, tweeting in the tree. Tala sighed, there was nothing more annoying about getting up in the morning. He stood himself up and looked over at his sleeping companions, he decided to do a head count.<p>

"Wait a second" said Tala, realising something. "Someones missing! Did Rei not come back from his walk? Maybe he decided to walk ahead, cut a path out for us. Oh who am I kidding, he would have been back by now to tell us. I must tell the others, we need to go looking for him" just at that moment, Salima woke up.

"Something the matter Tala?" asked Salima, yawning as she stood up straight. She began to look around the area, before she too noticed. "Rei's not back? Oh no, we need to look for him now!"

"Get a hold of yourself, Salima!" shouted Tala, making Salima stop dead in her tracks. "Your no use to anyone in this current state, pull yourself together. Julia knows what path he took, we should try waking her up" he turned around to find she was already standing up, pointing in the direction. "Well, that solves that. We need to hurry, we can't go looking for Rei and head to Wilsmore in enough time. We'll need to split into a team of two, those who will look for Rei and those that will head to Wilsmore"

"Well, it's a given that I'm going to look for Rei. So, prehaps Tyson could join me" said Salima, observing the path. "Prehaps someone else could join us?"

"I will" said Mariam from out of nowhere. "I have a terrible feeling in my heart that I caused him to leave, I wan't to fix it" she pleaded, hoping someone would agree. Salima looked wide eyed at Tala, hoping he wasn't gonna let her go through with this.

"Well, I won't stop you Mariam. You can help Salima and Tyson look for Rei. Myself and the others will go to Wilsmore" said Tala, going to awake the others. "And before you start moaning Salima, you'll need all the help you get. So stop with your paranoia and find Rei"

* * *

><p>Raul awoke from his sleep, noticing already that he nowhere near the fortress, but on a soft comfortable mattress. He was facing the wall and he decided to roll over, when he did, he saw a pinkette sat in front of the bed, looking at him.<p>

"Are you alright?" she asked. "You sustained some pretty bad wounds during your battle with Boris, you would have surely died had you not seen a healer"

"Yeah, I'm okay now. Who are you, and what happened to Boris?" Raul questioned, forcing himself to sit up right. "Did King stop him?"

"To answer your first question, I am Mathilda. An angel healer from Eternia. And to answer your second question, Boris escaped to Cosivo and has crossed the Mighty Sea. But do not dispair, Raul, Zeo Zagart rescued you and his men are patrolling the Cosivo docks. If he should return, he will surely die"

"I just hope Ozuma is understanding of this" sighed Raul in defeat. He then checked his body, he had a load of bandages across his torso and his arms, including one over his eye. "Heh, I guess Boris got me pretty good then huh?" joked Raul.

"One more strike and he would have killed you, so your lucky to be alive, Raul" answered Mathilda, before motioning towards the door. "Your friends are outside, Raul. If you wanna see them"

"Thanks, Mathilda, for all your help in healing me. I really appreciate it" smiled Raul, forcing himself to his feet. "Good thing he didn't do my legs though" he added as he walked outside. The sun was bright and shining like a beacon for all things good, not a fortunate thing for Raul however, as it nearly blinded him on his way out. He then spotted Ozuma nearby with Zeo.

"I see your still alive then, Raul?" smirked Ozuma, standing up. "You did your best, and now thanks to you, King and Zeo, we have driven Boris from Ceril over the Mighty Sea. In a few short days, the battle for Ceril will begin. Joseph has reported to me that he has seen the mage army from Dunamis heading towards Dinsmir, and the Kjori Blades arrived just this morning, rather early in the morning might I add. I got a message from Mariam via the crystal ball, the Exidoian's should be here by tomorrow and they will be back within the next two days"

"I guess we have the numbers on our side if Tala can win over Wilsmore" said Zeo, adding himself to the conversation. "You remember the war King Kai started with Wilsmore, I heard from a soldier who returned that the Wilsmore soldiers drove them all the back to the Cerilian border. They are very good at counter attacks and brute strength it seems, and I think they will definately aid us"

"Right, I think we need to head back to Dinsmir, discuss the coming battle" said Raul, who then turned around to see Mathilda standing before him. "I think you should come with us, Mathilda. You'll help provide us that healing edge we'll so desperately need"

"I guess I could join you in your mission, glad to be of service" said Mathilda, bowing respectfully to Raul.

"Let's not waste any time" Zeo added. "Let's go back to Dinsmir to discuss the battle plans"

* * *

><p>Mariam, Salima and Tyson watched the others depart to Wilsmore. Kane deliberatly stomped his way through the forest, making sure that Salima and the others knew the way out when they had rescued Rei. They then began to follow the path Julia pointed out the night before.<p>

"I wonder where he could be?" Mariam spoke up after a while of awkward silence. "It's not like he'd drop off the face of the earth" They eventually came across at large blade stuck in the ground. "The Driger blade!" Mariam gasped, running towards it. "He's left his blade behind. Or someone must have got him!" Mariam then pulled it out of the ground and fastened it to her belt.

"Well, it's your fault Mariam. If you didn't throw yourself at my Rei like that, we'd all be headed to Wilsmore" said Salima through gritted teeth, with such venom that a snake would be terrified.

"Your Rei? Uh, Salima, I think you find Rei belongs to himself. He's not your pet, he's not your slave. And while were spilling out the truths, your extremely self-centered and chicken shit of a fight. Yet your helping us save the world? If you wanna save the world, grow a pair will you?" Mariam shouted back at Salima, with equal venom too. Poor Tyson stood there, not knowing what to say or do.

"Shut up Mariam, just shut up. If I had my wish, you wouldn't be coming with me to look for Rei. Face it, he doesn't love you, he loves me. That's a fact you better get used to, like or not, he's mine!"

"There you go again, he's not a trophy Salima. He's not some prized treasure from a far off land, or even the key to all knowledge in the universe. He's a human being, just like you and me. So get off your high horse and live in reality, you have a lack of confidence in yourself, then why the bloody hell are you here! You have no belief in yourself, which is proof enough that you should be nowhere near a battlefield"

"How dare you question my confidence Mariam. Just because I don't have an over-inflated ego like you, doesn't mean I'm gonna change for you at all!"

"Now look who's talking a load off-"

"Shut the fuck up the pair of you!" Tyson screamed, silencing the the two. "We have the true king of Ceril lost in the woods defenceless, you two can argue later!" Tyson's outburst stunned the girls, who just stared at him, then looked at each before looking away in disgust.

"Let's just get a move on" sighed Mariam, walking ahead. "Oh, I do hope he's alright"

They continued to walk onwards, Tyson broke branches off of the trees and placed them in an "x" shape on the ground so they knew the way back. They eventually came to the mouth of a large cave, this cave looked deadly and scary, with numerous skeletons lying all around the entrance.

"A-are you sure about this?" questioned Salima, a worried look plastered on her face.

"Oh stop being such a coward Salima, if you wan't, you can stay out here while me and Tyson rescue Rei" Mariam fired back, seeing Salima's facial expression change from fear to anger. "That's what I thought" she added, smirking. She then grabbed a long branch, lit a match and set the branch on fire and proceeded inside, with Tyson and Salima following.

The cave itself was dark and dingy, with remnants of body parts lying about the floor and the walls. Mariam pulled out her sword, prepared for any attack that could come from the cave. Salima walked through in the middle of the group, shaking rapidly at what could be inside this cave. Tyson however, was at the back, continuously looking over his shoulder just incase they were attacked from behind. They continued to walk through the cave, not coming face to face with anything at all. Eventually, they heard something up ahead, so they ran towards the sounds direction. They came to the end of the cave to find Rei, almost out cold, clutching against a rock to keep himself on his feet. He looked like he'd been in a fight, and lost, with blood around him. But it was not the blood of his enemies, it was his own.

"Rei!" shouted Mariam, running forward to catch Rei as he fell. "Are you alright?" she asked, helping him stand up straight. "We were so worried about you, ain't that right guys?" Tyson nodded firmly, while Salima refused to looking in Mariam's general direction. Which, in Rei's mind, made it look like Salima didn't care.

"Well, I'm glad at least two out of three care that I'm still alive" spat Rei, glaring daggers at Salima when she turned to face him. "I take it that Tala and the others have gone on ahead then?" he added, sighing with frustration when Salima gave no response.

"They have, Rei" said Mariam, breaking the silence. "But don't worry, Kane has left a trail for us to follow so we can catch up to them" she added smiling. "I'm just so glad your still alive" she then gave him a large hug as tears trickled down her face. When she pulled away, Rei noticed the tears. "I'm so sorry, it's all my fault"

"Don't be" said Rei softly, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "It's my fault were in this cave, I heard something coming and I thought I could fight it off and keep you all safe. But it beat me down, that's the last time I ever take on a stone giant on my own"

"A stone giant!" Mariam gasped with horror. "It's still in here isn't it?" Rei only nodded, which made her worry more. "We need to get out of here now!"

"Haha" laughed Salima, pointing at Mariam as well. "Now who's the coward, Eh Mariam? This is just rich!"

"Shut up you!" suprisingly, that didn't come from Mariam. It came from Rei! "You caused enough damage already, lets just get the hell out of here" Rei and Mariam turned to run, but found the stone giant already awaiting them.

"Rest up Rei" said Mariam softly, helping him sit down. "Your in no shape at all to fight, don't worry, we'll be free and clear before you know it" she added, giving him a warm smile before turning around to fight the stone giant with Salima and Tyson.

The stone giant charged itself at the three of them from the start, with them only just moving out of the way. Salima recklessly attacked the stone giant, causing no damage whatsoever. This however, angered the stone giant. Who, in return, struck Salima with a vicious punch, making her fly backwards and crash against a wall.

Mariam summoned a great wave to attack the stone giant, it also caused no damage. Mariam began to panic, noticing that every attack made on this monster caused no damage. She then thought quickly through her mind, whilst moving away from the stone giants attacks. She then thought of an idea that may grant them victory.

"Tyson!" she shouted, running towards him. "Use your wind magic, target his hands. That way, he can no longer attack us and you can finish him off with your magic"

Tyson looked at her, wondering if this plan would work. It might not, but it was their only hope of victory. Tyson then nodded and ran towards the stone giant, he began to spin his katana at a blinding pace before slashing the air in front of him with force. The wind generated from his katana flew diagonally towards the stone giant, the force went through it's shoulder, slicing it's right arm clean off, dropping to the ground. Noticing the breakthrough, Tyson repeated the process once again, this time destroying the left arm. The stone giant continued to attack, attempting to trample Tyson to death. Tyson, however, was too quick and moved before it had the chance. Using another wind slash, he took out one of the legs. As the stone giant fell down onto it's one remaining knee, Tyson took advantage, running up the knee and jumping high into the air and struck the giant's head as hard as his arms and sword would let him. Tyson landed on the floor and rolled towards the exit, where Mariam and Rei where already standing as they watched the stone giants head roll off it's shoulders and crash hard into the floor.

"Tyson, you did it!" smiled Rei happily. "I think this is the first time in history a non-angel has defeated a stone giant single handedly, you should be proud of yourself" he then turned to Mariam, who was looking at the ground. "You should be proud of yourself too, Mariam. Your quick thinking saved us back there, we'd all be dead without you" he then looked around and noticed Salima wasn't there. He turned towards where the cave entrance was to see Salima, with a maniacal grin on her face.

"Die Mariam, you bitch!" she screamed, slamming her staff into the ground. This caused the ground to shake, and the cave itself began to collapse. Tyson and Mariam helped Rei out of the cave, narrowly avoiding falling rocks until, at last, they exited the cave.

"She's gone!" gasped Tyson. "She's vanished into thin air, how is this possible? She wields black magic? Or is she just a very fast runner? No, scratch that last part, no one could run that fast"

"That's not important right now" said Rei, walking forwards with Mariam holding his arm so he didn't fall. "But we need to find her, I'd like to have a word with her"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Tala and the others had finally reached the end of the forest. Upon the exit they came upon the sight of green fields, with many farms and a large tavern in the midst of them.<p>

"Ah, here are" said Kane, smiling while slowly twirling his staff behind him. "This is the farmland on the edge of the border, this place is called Heura. We can find out some information on goings on in the tavern, I reccomend we give it a go"

It was a short walk to the tavern, once they opened the front door, they only found a few people inside. One person that caught the groups interest was a small man, about 5ft 8, with a cloak on with the hood up over his head and past his face, giving him a mysterious look. A long, yellow staff with a curved blade on the end stood up right next to him. Tala left the group and stood next to him.

"Your not from around these parts, are you?" he said, sounding much like a teenager than a man. Tala only nodded at the comment. "I could tell, you have that sort of look about you, familiar to Cerilian people"

"I am the former captain of Ceril, Tala Valkov. I'm leading an uprising against the king of Ceril, Kai Hiwatari. I was wondering if you could help me, I'm looking for a fast way to get to Tinevelo, and information from the capital"

"You wan't information?" asked the hooded person, tala nodded once again. "Heh, them I'm your man" he then whipped his hood back to reveal he was infact a teenager, with green hair with a small ponytail at the back. "Kevin's the name, invite your friends over here. Don't worry, I ain't gonna kill someone who hates Kai's guts" The others then came over to listen to what Kevin had to say. "Well basically, Wilsmore is gathering a huge army to counter attack the Ceril assault on the Flat Plains. They have already heard of your plans to take him down, and were planning to take a company east towards Ceril to meet you. Don't worry, I can get you guys to Tinevelo before this afternoon even hits"

As soon as Kevin finished his sentence, Salima walked through the door.

"Bloody hell, Salima" said Mystel, leaning over Mariah's shoulder to see. "How on earth did you get here so fast?"

"Oh... uh... uh, I ran. The others are just outside, we found Rei rather quickly... he was delusional, so Tyson is keeping him company" answered Salima, in a freaked out, paranoid tone as she sat down on the nearest stool she could find.

"I smell bullshit" said Kevin, turning to face Salima's direction. "There's no way you and the others could of made it through that forest so quickly"

"Oh yes it is possible" Salima spat back at Kevin, the two went back and forth for about half an hour until a battered Rei, arms covered in bandages, was carried into the tavern by Mariam and Tyson.

"Rei, are you alright?" asked Salima with fake worry, which earned her a shove from Mariam.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You mocked me out there, insulted me, offended Rei, and to top it all off, you tried to kill us!" Mariam spat, grabbing Salima by the neck of the robes.

"Well, how did you guys get here so fast?" Salima fired back, hissing at Mariam like a snake.

"A few soldiers escorted us here whilst they were out scouting for any undead activity" said Tyson, walking forwards while still supporting Rei. "You left us to fight that stone giant ourselves, then tried to collapse the cave itself so that we would die. No one does that to a friend!"

"I don't know what's gotten into you Salima, but your turning into a demon in your own right" said Rei, forcing himself to look up at Salima. "Sure, what Mariam did the night before was out of order and totally unexpected, but at least she's been more of a friend to me in these last couple of hours than you are. Your turning into a vile and twisted woman, the woman you swore you would never become"

"Oh, so that makes it alright to defend her, huh?" Salima spat in Rei's direction, pointing the finger at him. "You are so stubborn, stupid and blind to all else that you don't wanna know about"

"Really?" Rei shouted back in fake suprise. "Well I don't know why I bother with you sometimes, your as bad as Kai half the time"

"Well now I wish Kai killed you instead of your family" growled Salima. Everyone gasped in shock, they all looked at Rei, who had tears forming in his eyes.

"Is that what you really think of me? Am I that worthless to you? Fine! it's settled, you and me are done. Your dumped, it's over finished, bye bye see you later" he finished before Salima could answer and left the tavern.

"This is something your parents should have done to you a long time ago" hissed Mariam as she delivered hard slap to the side of Salima's face before going outside to check on Rei.

"I wonder what that was all about?" Kevin thought out loud. "Oh well, it's not my business. Well, in twenty minutes we'll leave. So as we can give those two out there a moment to calm down and take a breather"

"Sounds like a good idea to me" said Julia, sitting down next to Mariah and Mystel, whose eyeballs were focused in an area somewhat lower than Mariah's face. "Pervert" she muttered under her breath.

"Oh, and Tala" Kevin contiuned. "There's something in the city that will interest you, it's called the Wolborg stone. Only ice mages can wield it, allowing the sacred spirit ice wolf, Wolborg, battle alongside you"

"Well, I guess that means you and I can take a little detour to find the stone while Rei deals with striking a deal" smiled Tala, eyes fixed towards the door. "Were coming to the end of Kai's reign thick and fast. Let's make sure it's a downfall to remember

* * *

><p>Raul: Well that was a dramatic ending between Rei and Salima<p>

Rei: Yes, very dramatic. Rather harsh words to say too

Tala: So, what can we expect in chapter 13 then?

Zeo: In chapter 13, Rei and the others meet the steward of Wilsmore, Ozuma and the others begin battle plans and Tala obtains the Wolborg Stone

Mariam: Sounds so action packed, I cannot wait!

Rei: Me neither, I hope it's epic

Kai: Remember, rates and reviews are always appreciated

Mariam: That's all we got time for this week, see you soon!

Zeo & Spinster: And keep on fighting on, until the next chapter in our tale begins


	13. The Calm Before The Storm

Spinster: Well met, fellow Uprisers we are back once more.

Salima: I'm glad there's a new installment, I was gettin impatient.

Zeo: That's what you get when the author is a heavily distracted dude.

Rei: As always, rates and reviews are always welcome. You Uprisers are the reason were still fighting on.

Tala: Don't forget to enjoy it too.

Spinster: And Salima will do the honours.

Salima: And now our tale continues...

* * *

><p>Mariam flung the tavern doors open to look for Rei, she found him only a couple of feet away sitting down on the floor with his face looking down at the ground.<p>

"Rei" she said, running towards him. She crouched down in front of him to get a better look at his face. "Are you alright, Rei? It wasn't your fault that happened back there, Salima's lost her mind. She tried to kill me, you and Tyson back in that cave, but your not to blame for any of this" she then reached her hand forward and gently lifted his chin so his face was level with hers. "Don't let it get you down, Rei. We still have a lot to fight for, you need to be strong. If not for me and the others, be strong the country your soon to lead"

"Mariam..." said Rei weakly, thinking of something to say. "Thank you, it's good to know someones looking out for me, who believes in me" he then stared into space before saying. "Come here, Mariam" he then leaned forward and gave her hug, not wanting to let go. "Thank you, thank you, thank you" Rei continued over and over again.

"Hey, Mariam" said Tyson, stepping out of the tavern. "Is Rei alright now?" Mariam looked over at him and gave him a nod. "Okay then, that's good, were leaving in a few minutes to go to Tinevelo" Tyson then turned around and walked back into the tavern.

"So how is he then, I hope Mariam's cheered him up a bit" said Mystel, everyone looked at him in suprise. "What? I can be very caring when it comes to friends"

"Don't worry Mystel, Rei's fine. Mariam's looking after him. She bandaged him up earlier, and now she's cheering him up, she's a great person" said Tyson, walking over to Mystel to take a seat. "I think you owe Rei an apology Salima" Tyson added, glaring at Salima.

"Apologise? for what? I was blanking off Mariam, that little bitch has done nothing but cause trouble for me and Rei since the offset. Your defending her? She's the reason Rei just dumped me here in front of everyone, and you can't see that. Yes, I did collapse the cave on you guys, but I was hoping that Mariam would die instead" Salima's outburst caused the entire tavern to become quiet, before Tyson stood up to argue back.

"Oh, so that makes it perfectly alright to kill someone who's on our side does it?" shouted Tyson, pointing a finger at her. "You brought this upon yourself, you were never right in the head for this mission from the start. Now look at you, you've driven away your boyfriend with that cruel comment. I hope your proud of yourself"

"Your one to talk!" Salima hissed, standing up from her seat, getting in Tyson's face. "Says the one who killed innocent mages because of his own crimes"

"You know nothing of the matter" Tyson argued back, prodding Salima in her shoulder. "Not something a bottom of the pile healer would know about anyways"

"You know nothing you daft fool" Salima growled as her voice began to echo. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and Salima's eyes glowed a bright white. "Your were really just jealous cause you were born into a mage family with no powers!"

"Wh-what? How do you know of that?" Tyson panicked, scared of what Salima was becoming. "You know what, it doesnt matter, at the end of the day, I'm a human warrior. And you, well your not human at all, your a monster" Salima all of a sudden returned to normal and stormed off outside, once she left, Tala grabbed Tyson by the collar and flung him against a nearby wall.

"Stop provoking her!" he shouted, sending fear up Tyson's spine. "Stop dividing a wedge between everyone, or I'll kill you here and now. Got it!" Tyson nodded quickly and fearfully before Tala threw him aside. "From here on out, I'll be taking back control of this mission. There will be no bickering, no fighting between you lot and definately no trying to kill each other, understand?" everyone nodded fearfully.

Salima walked outside to see Mariam handing Rei his sword back, he had a kind of half smile on his face, while Mariam had a warm and loving one. Salima's blood began to boil with evil thoughts and had a scowl across her face as Mariam turned towards her, with a similar face.

"Oh, it's you. The murderer, why don't you leave Rei in peace?" said Mariam, glancing over at Rei before looking back at Salima. "Didn't you hear him earlier? Your finished, he doesn't want anything to do with you"

"Ah, you see Mariam, that's where your wrong. You see, he knows I can lose my temper a bit" she then turned her back to think of something to say. "And there is no chance he would run into your arms... What the hell!" when she turned around, she saw Mariam kissing Rei. Her heart just exploded from the heartache she'd just recieved, everybody else had walked out the tavern and witnessed it too. They all went to console Salima, but no one noticed Rei push Mariam off him, no one except Mystel and Mariah.

"What the hell did you just do, Mariam?" questioned Rei, keeping his distance from her. "That was out of order, why?" Mariam answered that by trying to kiss him again, but he pushed her away once more. "Get away from me Mariam" he then approached Mystel and Mariah.

"Well, this was something I wasn't even expecting at all" said Mystel in all honesty, looking at Mariah who nodded as he faced Rei again. "Were the only ones who saw you push away from her, I guess this is gonna turn them against you"

"I knew she wasn't to be trusted" sighed Mariah, spinning an arrow around with her left hand. "So, what are you gonna do now then Rei?"

"I, I don't know" sighed Rei, sitting down on the floor, running a finger in the grass. "Just get through it and make it to Tinevelo I suppose, I doubt there is any chance I could win Salima back, so what's the point?" Mariah and Mystel crouched down next to Rei to console him.

"You'll be okay, Rei" said Mariah reassuringly. "Just keep your head up, okay?" Rei nodded as Mystel put his hand on Rei's shoulder.

"Trust me Rei, we know your innocent. They will listen to us, but first things first, were going to Tinevelo now, let's sort that problem out first okay?"

"Yeah, I guess so" sighed Rei depressingly as they began to move towards Tinevelo.

* * *

><p>"Voltaire, Voltaire! Where are you, you daft old bastard!" cursed a panicking Kai, staggering all over the place, going insane from a lack of sleep. He eventually spotted Voltaire a few feet away, walking out of his study. "Voltaire!" shouted Kai, gripping hold of Voltaire's shoulders. "You gotta help me, Black Dranzer's taking over me in my sleep. If I keep this up, I'm going to die! Please, there must be something you can do"<p>

"I'm not going to help you, Kai" Voltaire spat, looking down the unstable king. "The only way to stop it is become one with it, accept the Black Dranzer into your heart and mind and combine each others strengths to dominate Valen"

"No, Voltaire you don't understand. If he takes over, he's gonna kill everything, he won't need me as a host in the end. You'll die, I'll die and the whole of Valen will die. Stop being so selfish, your the one who offered this power to me, so I can rule a nation. But this? Is this what you wan't? The entire of Valen's population to be wiped out at your selfish whims?"

"I will not help you!" growled Voltaire, getting in Kai's face while the evilist of glares. "Your too weak, a pathetic weakling that's what you are"

"Is that so then, Voltaire? Very well then" sighed Kai, cracking his knuckles threateningly. "Then I release you from my service, you are to no longer stay in this castle, for you would comdemn all life to death. Gaurds!" suddenly gaurds appeared, spears at the ready in case of a fight. "Execute Voltaire immeadiatly, for treason and plotting against the king, take him into the town, make this execution public"

"Kai, you bastard! You complete and utter ungrateful bastard! It was me who guided you to the throne, me who protected this city!"

"Well, I guess you can tell the demon's you worship that pack of lies, if I'm going to die, then I'll do so trying to make amends, successful or not. Now take him away!"

* * *

><p>"Okay, so I suggest we get the siege weapons from Wilsmore, once they have allied with us, and use those to break open the front gates" said Zeo, pointing towards the gates of Kuljia on the map that lay on the table in front of him and the others.<p>

"Well, I guess that solves the problem of breaking down the gate" said Ozuma, hand running across his chin, deep in thought. "But we still have the problem of reaching the gate further up the city, the gate to Fort Comolwa. Do we have any plans on reaching it?"

"I don't think that sending all our troops down the central route at once is a good idea" said Raul, scouring over the map. "The western route and the eastern route hold a lot of soldiers and city gaurds, both the east and west routes have gates that link up with the main gate on the central route"

"So, what your saying is, capture the western and eastern gates to severly reduce their numbers and have vital holding points. Then once that's sorted we could press into the central route and squash them in and hold them for long enough to get the battering rams in to smash the gate down. Am I correct in think that's your battle plan?" asked Zeo, glancing over at Raul as if a lightbulb came on over his head.

"There are also mining tunnels underneath Kuljia" added Robert, looking at another map he had in his hands. "So we could send some soldiers in through there and try to break into the fort and open the gates"

"It should also be a good idea to have a large group of soldiers charge central route too, blocking them off from the west and east sides so they cannot provide rienforcements" said King, in between eating something that looked rather strange to Ozuma.

"King?" Ozuma asked, walking around the table so he was in front of him. "What exactly is that your eating? It looks like some wierd type of snot"

"Snot? Oh don't be so daft, Ozuma. It's apple sauce, I can't get enough of the stuff, I buy alot of this stuff from Meriscas actually, best apple sauce in all of Valen if you ask me" King then got a spoonful of it and handed it too Ozuma. "Go on, try some. I bet you'll like it"

"Are you sure it's not going to blow my head off?" questioned Ozuma, King nodded reassuringly. "Okay then, here it goes" he sighed before eating it, chewing it around for a bit then swallowed. Suddenly, Ozuma's chest began to make wierd noises. "Oh god, I think I'm gonna hurl!" Ozuma began choking as he ran out of the room.

* * *

><p>The heroes arrived in Tinevelo, the city stone. It was once under the control of the Dalmascan's of the Western Plains, but became a part of Wilsmore following a rebellion against their rule and has been the capital of Wilsmore ever since. Walking through the gates of the city, it became clear to them that the two locations they wanted to go, the home of the Wolborg Stone and the royal fortress were on the opposite sides of the city. Tala had devised a split up of two teams, one would go and find the Wolborg Stone, and the others would strike a deal with Steward of Wilsmore. The Wolborg Stone team consisted of Tala, Mystel, Tyson and Kevin. The other team had Rei, Salima, Mariah, Julia and Mariam.<p>

After a while of travelling through the city, it became clear that Rei and the others were lost...

"Great, just bloody great!" sighed Rei, kicking the nearest wall in anger. "Now were lost out here!"

"If only Mystel was here" sighed Mariah as well, staring at the floor. The others looked at her with confused faces. "Not in that way, you idiots! He knows this city like the back of his hand, if he ever took his gloves off that is"

"Take it easy Rei" said Mariam, putting her hands on his shoulder. "It's not your fault that were lost out here"

"Don't touch me!" Rei growled, swatting Mariam's hands away from him like a pesky little fly. "I don't want you anywhere near me, you understand that don't you?"

"Haha, that's funny Rei" laughed Salima in an almost over the top laugh. "Considering the fact you was all over her a few minutes ago shows how hypocritical you really are. Face it Rei, you two belong together"

"And your totally believing that one aren't you?" Rei spat, pushing Mariam aside and standing face to face with Salima, trying to control his anger. "I pushed her away, I don't want her. She wants me, just because what I said earlier doesn't I don't love you anymore"

"Save it for someone who cares Rei, you love Mariam and that's final. Stop with your pathetic pleas cause that won't win me back at all, so give it up Rei, your not getting anywhere"

"Oh, you know what, I give up on the lot of you! I'm done with you lot, I'll find the Royal Fortress myself. Without the lot of you, goodbye" Rei snarled as he left quickly before anyone could answer. He walked through the busy crowds of Tinevelo on a mission, and no one was gonna stop him from achieving it. "Damn her!" he spat again, stomping his way through a market district. "I'll show her"

"Show her what?" came a voice from behind Rei, he turned around to see Brooklyn. He was no longer wearing the white angel robes like before, he was now wearing a sleeveless blue trenchcoat with forearm length fingerless glove and brown leather trousers and grey boots. "And before you ask about the attire, I need to wear this, don't want to draw any attention to myself" he noticed Rei didn't look like he cared as he walked off. "Your going about this all wrong Rei" Brooklyn said, which caused Rei to stop in his tracks. "Your not gonna win her back by debating and spewing venomous words of hatred towards her, you gotta try and start again from scratch, be nice to her again. She's built these barriers up over a short space of time, and it's all because of Mariam. Mariah knows the truth, she will try and talk sense into Salima"

"I don't why I should listen to you, but your an angel you know more about life and situations like these than me. Alright then, lets go and find the girls again, but if this goes wrong, it's on your head you got me?"

"I know that Rei, I just don't see why this shouldn't work my friend. I helped someone through this similar problem in the past, namely your parents"

"What? My parent's have been through this as well?"

"Yes they have, but I'll discuss that with you later, we've got the last piece of a large puzzle to solve"

* * *

><p>Tala and the others were approaching an entrance to the sewers on the other side of the city, the more poorer and run down part of the city to be more exact. According to Mystel, there was a wierd dark magic cult that protected the Wolborg Stone underneath the city in the sewers. They were also cannibals, feading upon the corpses of those foolish enough to tread to deep into the sewers of the city.<p>

"So we gotta deal with dark magic wielding cannibals?" questioned Tala upon being told the information. "It's like the last piss up I went too all over again"

"You went to a piss up with magic wielding cannibals?" asked Mystel, with a look of confusion and a smirk. "You need to tell me that story sometime" he chuckled as he lead the way through the sewers. It was dark, dingy and disgusting place to be, but the Wolborg Stone had to be found and a bunch of cannibal mages were not gonna stop them. Mystel lead them through the maze of the sewers, Mystel had this strange ability to smell when people were nearby, which was odd considering they were treading through bucket loads of crap. They arrived in a part of the sewers that resembled a shrine with the Wolborg Stone in clear sight on a pedastal. Mystel grabbed it and threw it to Tala, who caught it between two fingers. "Well that was a little too easy, I was expecting a whole fight and..." suddenly, mages appeared from every path and crack possible. "Ah" chuckled Mystel. "That's more like it" everyone drew their weapons, but the Wolborg Stone in Tala's hand began to glow.

"Quick, Tala" shouted Kevin, raising his staff up for battle. "Used the Wolborg Stone, summon the Ice Wolf to aid us" Tala nodded in understanding and raised the stone up high.

"Wolborg, I summon you to fight at my side now!" a bright glow emanated from the stone before becoming a blinding light in which no one could see anything. Once the light subsided, Wolborg the Ice Wolf now stood at Tala's side. Smirking in satisfaction, Tala jumped onto Wolborg's back and unsheathed his dual swords. "Now Wolborg, let's go and kick some mage ass!" Wolborg charged into battle, causing ice crystals to shoot out of the ground with every step it took. It pounced into the air landed on a few mages, crushing them into dust with blood splattering everywhere. Those mages who were not in the line of fire however, where impaled on the ice crystal shooting out of the floor. "Now, to the Royal Fortress!" shouted Tala triumphantly as Wolborg charged off, leaving Mystel and the others to run after them. Which, considering the fact they had good foot speed, they caught up.

* * *

><p>Rei and Brooklyn finally caught up with the girls, they had actually found the way to the Royal Fortress, but the drawbridge was down not up. When Rei approached them, he noticed Salima did not had a scornful look on her face when she noticed him, and a large hand mark on Mariam's face.<p>

"Well, well, well" chuckled Rei, approaching Salima slowly. "What exactly happended here then?"

"I'm sorry Rei" Salima replied, looking up slight at him due to the height difference. "Mariah told me everything that happened, I confronted Mariam about it and she just insulted me continously, saying that I was nothing and that she and you would be together till the end. So I had to shut her up, one way or another"

"Well, I have to say Salima, nice shot!" Rei laughed as he looked over at the drawbridge. "So, theres no way inside that Fortress other than this way then?" Salima nodded firmly as Rei began to think. Suddenly, he felt someone grab him and Salima by the collar.

"I guess you forgot I'm an angel huh?" chuckled Brooklyn as he let his wings out and flew high into the air. Rei just laughed as Salima closed her eyes, fearful that Brooklyn would accidently drop her. He then flew over the drawbridge and landed in the fortress courtyard, alarming soldiers who unsheathed their swords and surrounded the three of them.

"Surrender immeadiatly" shouted one of the soldiers.

"Wait That's Rei Kon and Salima Aranthis, there the ones who are leading the uprising against Kai. Remember? They helped out the Exidoian's in battle against the undead" a second soldier said to the first one.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must apologise. Lord Steward Claude will be delighted to meet you, right this way" said the first soldier, escorting them to the Royal throne room. When they arrived, Steward Claude was conversing with his assistant. "My Lord, sorry to interrupt you, but I have two of the three leaders of the Uprising here who have come to meet you" as soon as he heard this, Claude snapped his head round, he was a young man no older than nineteen with short lavender hair.

"Rei Kon and Salima Aranthis" he said happily as he approached them, walking slowly as his cloak swayed from side to side with each step he took. "I am delighted to meet you, but the soldier said only two of the three. Who is this man with you?"

"He is the Angel Brooklyn Masefield, Steward Claude" Rei answered, bowing respectfully. "Tala Valkov, the true leader of the Uprising is here in the city. He's gone looking for the Wolborg Stone with a few of our companions"

"Very well, King Rei. If your looking to ally with us for the Uprising, then you have a deal" smiled Claude, shaking Rei's hand firmly. "I know the truth about you being royalty Rei, the documents you and your allies found I placed in Dunamis myself two months ago. Kai was going to destroy them, but I managed to get a hold of them. I conversed with Tala, who told me that he was plotting a rebellion for some time, and it was he who told me to plant them in the Dunamis library so you would find it. If he hasn't told you this, he probably must have forgotten. Now, I wish I could accompany you to see Kai's head on a spike, but I have some matters to deal with. My troops however, are at your disposal, I will send my siege weapons expert, Kenny with you. Everyone needs an edge sometimes right?" Rei nodded firmly with a smile on his face, the gaining of allies was finished, the battle would soon begin. "Serah" Claude said to his assistant. "Go and tell the troops to march with King Rei here, that they will play a role in this rebellion"

"Yes, my lord" Serah replied, bowing respectfully as she darted out towards the barracks.

"Fairwell, King Rei. Kenny is outside in the courtyard, may fortune favour you" he smiled as he walked off towards his study. Rei breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to face Salima.

"This is it then, you ready?" Rei asked, noticing that Salima was shaking ever so slightly. "Don't worry, you might not love me anymore, but I still care for you, I've got your back out there, you can count on that" he added, smiling as he placed his hands on Salima's shoulders.

"Okay, I'm ready. But just to let you know, I'm more than capable of handling myself out there" she laughed as she exited the room with Brooklyn.

"Wouldn't have it any other way" Rei smiled as he followed them.

* * *

><p>"People of Ceril, I have gathered you here today to bear witness to an execution" Kai began as the massive crowd that had gathered outside the fortress grounds silenced themselves quickly, ready to hear the King's next words. "This man is charged with treason, plotting against us all. A Darkness sympathizer, we all know what to do with Darkness sympathizers right? Off with their heads, and the fact is that not only has he done that, he's done many things to us all in the past which he must pay for. I will do so personally" Kai finished as unsheathed his sword and began to approach Voltaire. Hilary was watching this in the crowd with Emily, a friend of hers who she ran too after Kai let her go.<p>

"A Darkness sympathizer huh?" spat Emily, looking at Voltaire with disgust. "He deserves what's coming to him then, off with his head"

"Well, either way" said Hilary, now looking down at the floor in front of her. "At least he'll be dead, he treated Kai badly and want's us all to die. He's definately gonna pay!" she then looked back up to see Kai standing in front of Voltaire with his sword aloft.

"Goodbye Voltaire, you best hope Zeus has mercy upon you" Kai said coldly as he swung his blade horizontally, cutting Voltaire's head clean off. Kai then watch the blood flow everywhere and Voltaire's head roll away. Kai felt Black Dranzer clawing away at him from the inside, so he thought it best to cut the rest of it short. "That is all, people of Kuljia, I bid you farewell" he finished, almost coldly as he left.

* * *

><p>Raul stood outside the Valkov Manor, looking in the direction of Kuljia. He thought back over what had happened over the course of the last few days, about two weeks ago he was juggling twelve burning sticks to amuse the locals in Cosivo. Now though, he was about to plunge head first into a battle for a nation then a battle to save the world itself. He took a deep breath and sat down on a little hill near the Manor, this small hill overlooked a massive encampment of soldiers who had already arrived. He knew, that within several hours due to Wilsmore being right near the Ceril border, that the Wilsmoran troops would arrive soon with their masterful siege weapons. He then realised that the feeling of resentment towards Julia had gone, replace by his new resovle his new goal, to become the best he can be. No more feeling bitter, no more sitting by the side, he was going to make things happen for him.<p>

"There you are, Raul. I've been looking everwhere for you" chuckled Oliver, approaching the hill and sitting beside Raul. "Looks like the battle will begin very soon. I'm ready, but are you ready, my friend?" a firm nod from Raul gave him the answer he was looking for. "That's good, we'll need you out there. Hell, we need everybody here out there, now that the battle plan has been finalised, once Rei, Tala and the others read it then were off to battle. I noticed there's been a change in you, other than the bandages your still wearing of course. Your were a little reckless in your fighting when we last met over a year ago, but now your fighting in a more organised manner. You'll be reunited with your sister once she returns from Wilsmore, you've both been through a lot since the beginning"

"You know what, Oliver? Your right. We've both been through so much, I think I'm really coming of age and cutting my own path through life. It was never that Julia was better than me, I understand that is was actually me holding myself back. It's going to change now, I'm going to give it my all even if it means falling in battle. I may have nearly died against Boris, but Kai's Elite are tough soldiers, I've fought them before and let me tell you, they are resiliant bastards. You take one of them down, then two of them arrive to take their fallen allies place. And that's just out in the open, in Kuljia, the largest city in all of Valen, is home to god knows how many of them. That's not our biggest problem, once Kai's dead and buried, we have to fight against Zeus' army almost straight afterwards in the Dead Plains before they can launch an assault on Valen. I'm not afraid to die, I'm just worried for the poor souls who Zeus' army will feast upon if we fail"

"Well, the others will be back with the Wilsmoran army soon, so we best wait for them" smiled Oliver, before walking away to go inside.

"Yeah, I guess we will wait. I hope that Julia's safe" Raul sighed to himself as he fell asleep on the hill.

* * *

><p>Raul awoke many hours later to the sound of marching, he got to his feet and looked out to the west and no mistaking it, it was the Wilsmoran army, with Rei, Salima and Tala leading in front. With exictement emanating through him, Raul ran inside the Valkov Manor and shouted to Ozuma and Spencer. "Tala and Rei have returned will the Wilsmore army!" Ozuma and Spencer snapped into action and ran outside to greet Tala.<p>

"Heh, home sweet home" chuckled Tala as he dismounted from his horse. "So what's the situation then Ozuma?" he questioned, walking inside with Ozuma walking alongside him.

"Well, everyone's here and present. The battle plan has already been laid out, you, Rei and Salima will lead the charge up the central path. Zeo, Raul and Julia will lead up the eastern part, and Robert, Miguel and I will lead up the western part. Spencer and Garland will lead a battalion through the mines, try and blast a way in through the underneath"

"Excellent, we attack at nightfall. It's been a long time coming, now we finally have the chance to overthrow Kai"

* * *

><p>Rei stood upon the hill Raul slept on hours before, looking down at the armies all ready for the battle that was to come. For once in his life, Rei felt nervous, he had a troubled look on his face and tried to avoid conversation since they got back. Eventually, Salima came looking for him. She however, was looking forward to the battle, she couldn't wait to taste victory and get her hands on Kai. She was actually wearing a new attire. Gone was the mage robes. Replaced by a short kimono like dress with chain mail over the top in a very dark blue colour, gone were the gloves too as they had been replaced by black steel gauntlets. She also now wore black greaves and had a metal headband on, but her hair still went over the top of it and covered one eye.<p>

"I looking forward to this battle!" she said confidantly, pacing back and forth behind Rei. She notice him look back at her with a troubled face, she then walked up beside him. "What's eating you up then?"

"I'm nervous, I'm not sure what to do. If I come face to face with Kai, what if you all fall and I'm left alone out there?" Rei said, trying to keep his nerves in check.

"Well, it seems we've changed a bit eh?" Salima chuckled slightly. Rei then looked at her confused. "What I mean is, I was the scared one. You made me strong, I'm not scared anymore because of you. It's all because of you that I'm still here. Don't worry, I won't fall out there, I'm a healer remember? I won't let anyone in my power fall, especially you" she added softly, lifting his chin up so he faced her. "I think I should say, just incase we never get another chance... thank you, for everything" she continued, running her hand gently across his cheek. "We've all got a lot to thank you for"

"I've got to thank you as well, Salima" Rei spoke after seeming almost frozen to the spot. "For being my friend all these years. I've been strong because of you, I wanted to protect you and be a hero alongside Kai. That's why I was strong, cause of my friendly rivalry with Kai to be the best and my love for you. I didn't want to be weak in front of you, so I toughened up. But this, now this is a challenge"

"Life itself is a big challenge, to be alive this long shows we've passed the test. We'll be heroes, or die trying. And if we die trying, at least I'll die next to you and be with you in Eternia" Salima said softly as she removed her hand from his cheek and gave him a small kiss on his other cheek before walking off. Rei stood still, reaching his hand up to his kissed cheek. Then Mystel appeared from out of nowhere.

"You see? Told you it would work out" he chirped, nearly laughing. "Now you'll be getting laid and having princes and princesses in no time" he eventually cracked up laughing, not even Mariah hitting him across the head could stop him.

"Strange boy" Rei laughed as he walked down towards the camp.

* * *

><p>Within the next hour, they had arrived at the gates of Kuljia. Spencer and Garland's team had left some time before to cut a route through the undergound mines.<p>

"This is it everyone!" Tala shouted heroically to everyone. "This is what were here for. to taste victory, overthrow the evil King then save Valen!" everyone began to cheer, Tala then looked over at Rei. "You do the honours my lord Rei" said Tala, bowing quickly before standing up. Rei felt a little nervous, he looked over at his friends who were on the front lines with him. He saw Mystel and Mariah, who gave him quick glance and gave him the thumbs up. He looked over at Raul, who removed the bandage from his eye. Mariam wasn't even looking at Rei, just the large gate before them as the rain began to pour down. He glanced over at Michael, who also gave him the thumbs up and a cocky smile as if to say it'll be a piece of cake. He then looked next to him at Salima, she slowly moved her right hand to his left and held his hand, interlocking her fingers with his.

"Don't worry Rei" she spoke softly. "you can do this" she added, holding her staff in her left hand.

"I'll try, but it's much easier with you with me" he smiled, unsheathing the Driger Blade and held it in his right hand. He turned around and shouted towards Kenny. "Siege weapons, fire now!"

"Okay" he responded, he then gave the command to the soldiers. "Fire!" then answered by firing their siege ballista's a rapid pace, before long they had destroyed the gate.

"Now then" said Rei, feeling a wave of determination wash over him. "Let's go kick some ass!" he screamed as he charged into battle, still holding Salima's hand.

"Charge!" Tala screamed as everyone followed suit, charging off into Kuljia and into the face of destiny.

The battle, had at last... begun...

* * *

><p>Salima: So it begins, I hope we all survive.<p>

Zeo: I hope so too, I can't wait

Spinster: Well that's all we got time for fellow Uprisers, join us next time when the battle begins.

Salima: Farewell

Zeo: And fight on!


	14. The Fight For Ceril Part 1

Spinster: Here we are Upriser's, the first half of the battle for Ceril!

Rei: Prepare for action and a lot of violence

Tyson: As always, rates and reviews will be very appreciated

Salima: Remember to enjoy the story too

Spinster: Tyson, you do the honours

Tyson: Sure thing dude, so out story continues...

* * *

><p>The gates were busted open and the Resistance poured into the city like vultures feeding on a carcass, straight away, they came face to face with Kai's Elite. The cold soldiers rushed forward in hopes of putting them down immeadiatly, but were being smashed aside.<p>

"Robert!" shouted Rei over to him, in between swinging his blade. "Lead up through the western route of the city, capture the main gate that connects to the central path. Ozuma and Miguel will lead with you" Robert gave a firm nod and a quick salute to Rei as he gathered a large number of soldiers and charged off westwards. Rei then began to cut through the central path with Tala and Salima, but found that archers were on higher ground and were taking out members of the resistance.

"This sounds like were I come in" smirked Michael. He observed the archers, ran up a nearby wall and threw his shield towards them. The edges of the shield were razor sharp and came into contact with the archers, cutting their necks and making them fall to their deaths. Then, almost boomerang like, his shield returned to him.

Raul, Julia and Zeo lead their way eastward, cutting through many soldiers as they passed them. They noticed that their way was blocked by a gate, but it wasn't the connecting gate, but still important nonetheless.

"Raul, Julia get that gate opened!" Zeo commanded, preparing to shield himself from enemy fire. "We can hold off while you do this" nodding at the command, Raul and Julia looked at each other and ran towards the gate. Once they arrived at the gate, Raul jumped. Julia then jumped higher than him and grabbed his hand, and threw him up higher than her. Raul returned the favour and they managed to get to the top of gate, almost like a two man ladder. Raul threw Julia up high and she grabbed onto the ledge, pulling Raul up with her and getting to the top. Once they reached the top, they noticed they were outnumbered, but wouldn't give up. The two unsheathed their sabre's and stood back to back, charging up their magic and striking lightning bolts and fireballs at those foolish enough to stop them. They had a goal to accomplish, they wouldn't lay down and die just yet.

* * *

><p>Robert, Miguel and Ozuma lead the way through the western passage, not coming into battle with anyone just yet. Then, as if out of nowhere, they were ambushed by more of Kai's Elite.<p>

"Hold them!" shouted Robert, mace and shield at the ready. Leaping into battle like an animal released from it's chains, Robert smashed his way through soldiers with a ferocity that struck fear into them. Quickly following suit, Miguel unsheathed his sword and shield and began to fight alongside Robert, using his shield as a weapon more than his actual sword. The two lead the charge, fearlessley striking down Kai's Elite. Ozuma however noticed that these soldiers had come from central path onto the western one.

"Of course" Ozuma spoke to himself, looking up at the rooftops. "Prehaps if we destroy the pathway here, then their at the mercy of Tala, now. How to get up there?" he pondered for a moment and quickly saw a large ladder nearby. Without even alerting the others, Ozuma sprang into action, grabbing the ladder and placing it against the nearest wall and climbed as fast as possible. Once he reach the top, he noticed that luck was definately on his side, as a ridiculous amount of rubble and rock was resting on the edge of the roof, right above the enemy soldiers. Without a moment to lose, Ozuma used all his strength to push the rubble off the edge. "Head's up!" he cried out as the rubble fell towards them. Robert and Miguel swiftly stepped backwards and watched the rubble block up the path, preventing the ambush to cause heavy casulties. Smiling as his quick thinking, Ozuma dropped down the ladder and ran ahead. "Come on, the sooner we get to that gate, the faster Kai's head is placed on a spike"

"Couldn't agree more" said Robert, almost smiling. "Now men, onwards!"

* * *

><p>As soon as the paths separated three ways, Tala took control of the central path. This allowed Rei and Salima to battle without worrying about the commands.<p>

"Oliver!" Tala shouted out in the heat of battle, looking up towards the rooftops.

"You called!" Oliver shouted back to him, quickly dispatching enemies with his lightning fast rapier sword skills.

"Follow Mariah and Mystel up on the rooftops, we need an extra archer up there to cover us from above and slow them down. Take some of your men too" Oliver nodded and called a few of his men over and rushed towards one building and skillfully climbed up every crack and ledge on the building until he reached the top, shortly followed by the other Kjori archers.

"What took you so long?" chuckled Mystel, firing arrows rapidly at the row of soldiers further back in attempts to slow them down. When he noticed that Oliver and some of the Kjori archers were standing next him, he smiled. "Ah, extra firepower. Aim for the rows further back, it will slow them down"

"Men, prepare to fire!" Oliver ordered. The Kjori archers placed their arrows in their bows and pulled back on the string, holding it in position. Oliver lit a match and used it to light a torch, he then ran across the archers, setting the arrowheads on fire. "Now, release the arrows!" the Kjori archers pointed their arrows to the sky and fired, they came back down like rapid raindrops, killing numerous soldiers and setting them ablaze.

"Kinda makes your ghost arrows look kinda moot doesn't it?" Mystel winked over at Mariah, who suprised him back with a little wink of her own. "Score!" he whispered over to Oliver.

Back down on the ground, Tala summon Wolborg to fight alongside them and clear a path, which was not difficult seeming as Wolborg was large. Salima stood back, healing nearby troops from wounds received during battle as Rei and Michael forced their way through the central path, killing as many soldiers as possible. Then a catapult fire was heard, and was heading straight for them. Everyone in the area winced, waiting to the killing blow, but it did not come. Once everyone looked up, they noticed that somehow Salima had created a white aura'ed magical barrier, protecting them from the attack.

"I told you I wouldn't let anyone fall while I can help it" she smiled as she urged the others to continue onwards. They managed to drive them further back enough that it seemed they were heading on a retreat.

"We've got them on the run now!" screamed Rei. "Let's take the fight to them again!" he charged after the retreating soldiers with such anger, Tala may have thought he was possessed, but shook that thought away and pressed onwards.

* * *

><p>Raul and Julia were beginning to struggle with the rushing soldiers, soon after one fell, others came to take their place. Just when it seemed they would be overwhelmed, King pushed his way through the crowd of soldiers and approached the gate. He slammed his staff into the floor which caused strange forces to push him upwards onto the wall.<p>

"King!" Raul smiled, cutting another man down. "Pull that lever and open the gate" King looked over at the lever and jumped towards it and pushed it down with force, causing the gate to open as more of Kai's Elite charged at the Zeo and the other Resistance soldiers on the ground.

"Die, Kai's Elite! Your time is at an end!" Zeo bellowed, using almost super human strength to use his shield almost like a bulldozer and barged soldiers out of his way, either killing them or injuring them, so the other soldiers could finish them off.

"Raul, King, come with me" said Julia, climbing onto a roof. "These rooftops follow alongside the path were taking, we can use our magic to help them down below. Come on, hurry" she added, urging them on. She waited until King and Raul had ran far enough across the rooftops before following after them.

"Seems like they're all up at the connection gate, using that is vital to them providing mass troops across Kuljia. We take that from them, not only will we have a vital holding point, it would kill off any more reinforcements coming through. Joseph, Dunga and Tyson. I wan't you guys to get up there and take control of that gate. It should already open, so climb the ladders that are provided to climb up to the top and kill them when you get there. We'll hold off the men that attack from down below. Move out!" Zeo ordered, charging further on until they eventually came to the gate.

"Heh, I don't need a ladder" smirked Tyson, looking up at the top of the gate. "Dragoon Katana! Quick ascent tornado!" he swiped at thin air, which somehow created a mini tornado. Knowing what to do next, Tyson ran fearlessley into the tornado, which sucked him up into the air and on top of the gate, where he began quickly and skillfully slashing and cutting down soldiers, bodies (And body parts) where flying everywhere. Joseph and Dunga finally reached the top of the gate, Joseph used his two daggers and his teleporting ability quickly appear behind the enemy and kill them quickly. While Dunga on the other hand, used a broad axe and brute strength to completely flatten foes with his mighty power. Down below on the ground, Zeo fended off attack after attack after attack from numerous of soldiers while Raul and Julia assisted with their fire and lightning skills and King's dark magic to give them an extra edge. After a long, intense struggle, Tyson finally appeared over the top of the wall. "We've killed them all, the gate's been captured!"

"Excellent work Tyson, now you guys head back down and help bring up the battering ram we left back at the first gate. Raul, Julia and King, go help them!" Zeo gave out his orders, but stayed facing the gate, should any reinforcements arrive. The others however, nodded in understanding and quickly ran back to the first gate.

* * *

><p>"My Lord Kai" shouted Johnny, rushing into throne room trying to catch his breath. "We're under attack, my lord! The Resistance has built a huge army, what should we do"<p>

"Go out there and stop them, it's that simple" Kai replied coldly, sounding uninterested.

"But, My Lord, Tala Valkov and Rei Kon are leading them. They're gunning for you" Johnny protested angrily.

"So they've come home huh?" Kai responded, his voice sounding darker as the aura of Black Dranzer shot out of him. "Make sure their bodies are ripped to pieces and they all burn!" Black Dranzer growled, using Kai's voice like a spokesperson. Johnny fearfully backed away as he fled from the throne room, large axe in hand. Kai tried to fight Black Dranzer, but this battle he lost, Black Dranzer now had full control of him. Then, out of the blue a large explosion came from inside the castle grounds and within seconds, Garland, Spencer and their troops arrived in the throne room, weapons at the ready.

"We've come to end you Kai!" said Garland, pointing his large two handed sword at him.

"Let's get him for Valen!" bellowed Spencer as they charged into battle...

* * *

><p>Robert continued to lead his troops westward towards the western connection gate, to their suprise when they arrived, no one was there! There were soldiers on the other side of the open gate, mocking their opponents. Miguel was about to charge off after them, but Robert stuck his hand out and grabbed him, stopping him.<p>

"Something's not right here" said Robert, looking slightly confused. He walked closer to the gate, picking up a spear that lay on the ground beside him, hurling it at the gate. To his suprise, the spear bounced off a white barrier that suddenly appeared and landed straight back in his hand. Using his quick thinking, Robert suddenly realised what was needed. "Ah, of course" he spoke up, almost suprised. "This barrier can only be destroyed by wind attacks"

"I know exactly what Robert's got planned" smirked Miguel, looking over at Ozuma who currently had a puzzled look on his face. "But I'd reccommend taking a few steps back"

Robert lifted his mace high above his head and began to swing it above his head at a rapid, frantic pace.

"Griffolyon, I summon you now!" out of the swirling vortex Robert had created with his mace, Griffolyon shot out of the vortex and by the side of it's master. "Attack that barrier, show no mercy!" he bellowed, making the soldiers on the other side of the gate quake with terror, fearing for the worst. Their fears were confirmed when Griffolyon let out a shriek and charged at the barrier, smashing it to pieces. Griffolyon did not stop there, taking advantage of the situation laid out before it, it swooped down and plucked three soldiers up into the air with it's claws. It flew higher and higher until it eventually stopped and dropped them, making a loud thud as it hit the ground.

"Wait a second, is that all there was down here?" questioned a puzzled Ozuma, running towards the gate to observe the situation. "It seems like their being drawn away to fight along the central path, which means the gate is ours!"

"Excellent work everyone" said Robert, finally cracking a smile, before going back to a serious tone once more. "But we cannot rest up just yet, you set of soldiers, go back down and bring up the battering ram. The rest of us will hold this gate if need be"

"Were edging closer to the end of Kai, are you ready to charge into the face of desitny?" asked Miguel, walking forward so he was now side by side with Robert. "Cause I can tell you now, I am!"

"I am too, my friend. Now, let's hold this gate men! Wait until King Rei and Tala reach the central connection gate. We will taste victory this day"

* * *

><p>Hilary and Emily were laying low behind a set of barrels near the central path connection gate. Numerous ruthless members of Kai's Elite were fending off attacks from the resistance close by them, more than once did a soldier poke their head around the corner, only to meet Emily's fist.<p>

"Damn, if I keep this up I'm gonna break my knuckles for sure" groaned Emily, trying to massage her hand to ease the pain. "Heh, serves me right for punching someone who's wearing a helmet"

"Emily, we need to get into Fort Comolwa and get to Kai" Emily looked at Hilary as if she'd gone mad. "I know it's crazy but I have to try, you may think I'm doing this cause I love him. Well that's only one reason, the fate of Ceril, hell the fate of Valen even rests upon this"

"Hilary, are you insane? You could get yourself killed out there!" Emily pleaded, trying to stop Hilary from going. But she realised, by her say or not, Hilary's mind was made up. "Then at least let me go with you"

"Very well then" Hilary sighed, standing up and out of the hiding. "Come on!" she shouted, she then ran in front of the central connection gate and placed her palms flat against the gate as her hands began to glow. "Que manis, querowis, hakis comika SWAA!" Hilary screamed, triggering off some kind of magic. Seconds later, the gate exploded, sending shrapnel flying backwards to suprised soldiers behind the gate, hitting them and impaling others, killing them instantly. Not wanting to fight a severly outnumbered battle, Hilary began to run towards the gates of Fort Comolwa, with Emily running after her close behind.

* * *

><p>Rei and the others were cutting their way through towards the central connection gate, leaving a long trail of bodies in their wake. They pressed on, suddenly Salima collapsed to her knees, clutching her head in pain as the white aura from before returned, but the white outlines of angel wings then appeared on her back.<p>

"What the-" Rei said aloud, rushing to Salima's side. "Are you alright?"

"Rei, please... Make it stop" she groaned as another throb of pain shot through her like a lightning bolt, she began to shake uncontrollably. "I-I can't control this pain, what's wrong with me?"

"Don't give up hope now Salima, were close to the end of Kai. I don't know what's happening to you, but I will help you get through this. Remember that" he smiled warmly to her as he helped her to her feet.

"I'll try and be strong, for you Rei" she smiled through the pain. "Now come on, were near the gate" they continued onwards, Salima ignoring the pain shooting through her and the white aura. Though she was wincing a lot, she was storing the pain back down. Brooklyn, who was running close behind, observed the white aura and realised what she was becoming.

"What the hell?" shouted Tala, looking at the carnage in front of him. "The gate somehow exploded!" Tala then noticed two girls running towards Fort Comolwa. "Wait, come back you two!" he shouted as he ran after them, as he ran past the shattered gate, the other Resistance leaders noticed them and charged towards the gates of Fort Comolwa with siege weapons, swords and magic alike.

Only destiny will decide who's the victor...

To be continued!

* * *

><p>Salima: Whoa! What a chapter, I can't wait to find out the cause of the white aura.<p>

Hilary: Same here, and yay, I have magic powers

Zeo: Part 2 of the battle for Ceril will be with you Upriser's in the next couple of weeks, even next week if your lucky

Hilary: That's all for now

Rei: Fight on Upriser's

Spinster: Until next time!


	15. The Fight For Ceril Part 2

Spinster: What's up Uprisers! Here we are, with chapter 15 and the conclusion of the battle for Ceril

Kai: This is gonna be a fast paced, violent chapter. If you need a pillow to cower behind, get one now.

Rei: This is gonna be very exciting, I can't wait to read it.

Hilary: That makes two of us Rei.

Salima: Nope, it makes three of us

Spinster: Emily, you do the honours for this chapter

Emily: Sure thing, and now our story continues...

* * *

><p>The Resistance charged towards the gates of Fort Comolwa, soldiers, mages, siege weapons and all sorts charged upon the castle. As they neared the gate, Tala noticed the two girls from earlier who had ignored his calls to stop when they discovered the blast at the central connection gate. Using his quick foot speed, Tala dashed ahead of the army and stood in front of the two girls, prompting the Resistance to come to a stop.<p>

"Who are you two?" questioned Tala, hands nearing the pommel's of his blades. "You ignored my calls to stop, why are you heading into Fort Comolwa? Speak quickly you two"

"I'm Princess Hilary of Kilarim" Hilary spoke calmly, noticing Tala was about to apologise for questioning her like that. "No need for apologies, I dressed like this as to not attract attention. Not that it matters now, seeming as Kai is possessed"

"Kai's possessed?" Rei shouted, motioning himself next to Tala. He then looked at Tala with a fearful stare before looking at Hilary again. "Please, tell me everything"

"Where do I begin?" sighed Hilary, raising one eyebrow and lowering another whilst pacing in front of the gate. "I came to visit him a few days ago, try to talk him out of his evil and ruthless regime. He was suprised that anyone would wanna help him, but I told him that I do wanna help him. I think he was going to mend his ways with my help until a dark corrupted aura shot out of him, my fears where confirmed that he was possessed by a demon when it revealed itself to be the servant of Zeus, Black Dranzer..." everyone gasped in horror, but before Rei could answer, Hilary continued on. "But he tried to resist, Black Dranzer was going to kill me, he managed to fight it and only imprisoned me. He then came to visit me and fought against Black Dranzer to set me free. During the course of the last few days, I've been researching about being possessed by a demon, we might be able to save Kai. It also seems he's trying to put things right, he executed Voltaire earlier today"

"Seems that Kai's just made our workload much easier" said Tyson, stepping forward from the crowd of soldiers. "But wait, you said Black Dranzer. He, or more correctly, it is the highest ranking servant under Zeus' rule. He has access to demons from the depths of hell, there's no telling what it has summoned in there to defend itself. Okay, Rei, Tala, Salima and Hilary. Smash your way through to the throne room, we'll hold them all out here while you get the task done"

"Are you crazy!" questioned Emily, looking like she was ready to beat him for that idea. "You'll get yourself and most likely us killed out there"

"We have no choice!" Tyson snapped back, glaring at Emily. "Rei was at the start of this problem with Kai, so it's fitting that he's the one to finish the bastard. We have plenty of soldiers to give Kai's Elite and Black Dranzer's demons a good run for their gold coins" Rei and Tala nodded in agreement. "Now we just have to bust open this gate"

"Allow me, step back as this could get chaotic" Hilary responded. She walked up to the gate and placed her palms gently on the gate as they began to glow. She closed her eyes to focus. "Emanis gfwour diendis kanaka HIGARO!" she screamed as her eye's shot open and quickly turned blood red and back to normal again as the gate exploded exactly like the last one. The sight that greeted them were Kai's Elite and a whole load of demons.

"Do what you have to do Rei, trust me, we'll live through this day to tell our children" smiled Tyson, placing a hand on Rei's shoulder and gave him a nod. Rei smiled back and nodded too.

"Ready?" Salima asked, placing her hand on Rei's other shoulder.

"Yeah, I am. Time to right these wrongs" he then unsheathed his blade and pointed it towards the demons and Kai's Elite. "Victtoris Emansia!" he screamed out as he charged into battle, with the screams of charging Resistance members blaring in his ears as they charged into battle with their leader.

Rei, Tala, Salima and Hilary ran through all the enemies that were laid out before them, they had a mission and no chance in hell would these things stop them. Tala stopped and summoned Wolborg to fight again, with all four of them jumping onto his back, Wolborg charged off at the demons that now littered the courtyard, biting into them and ripping them to shreds. All the gates were open however, so smashing through them was not needed. They were on a rampage through the Fort with no end in sight, Tala sat at the front on Wolborg with his dual blades in hand, assisting in cutting down demons and the Kai's Elite that Wolborg couldn't quite finish off. In the middle was Rei and Salima, with Salima clinging onto Rei as if she was about die, which she still could. Hilary sat on the back and used her shock magic to destroy levers to shut gates, preventing them from being chased.

Back with the others, Tyson had now taken over command of the Resistance. He had never lead a group this large before, but knew what it took to be a leader. Bravely charging into hordes of demons that lay before him, he used his lightning quick katana skills to cut through many demons, opening up a path for other Resistance members to fight alongside their new commander.

Oliver threw himself into the heat of battle alongside Tyson, he used a fast impaling thrust which impaled three demons upon his rapier. He swiftly retracted his blade and continued to cut down anyone he could. He spotted a large ledge upon a wall, using his quick thinking, he grabbed Mystel and Mariah by the arms and lead them up a large set of stairs to the ledge where they began to shoot down arrows upon the demons.

Robert fought his way through the demons valiantly. He knew they were outnumbered when it came to demons, he knew they could die, but he wouldn't give up now. Using his shield as a battering ram, he teamed up with Zeo to force back and trample many demons as they could. This helped in clearing away the more troublesome demons.

Michael began to use the enviroment around him as a weapon. Noticing a pillar nearby, he ran towards it and grabbed hold of it. He swung around and wrapped his feet around the neck of demon and twisted his legs, effectively breaking the demons neck and killing it. He whacked away a soldier of Kai's Elite with his shield and threw his sword, sending it sailing through the air and landed square in a demons eye, which due to the force, caused the blades end to go through the back of it's head. Using his shield skills, he then threw it to the ground and stood on it and pushed off, skating his way across to the demon, using his fists to fend off attacks. He made his way over to his sword and tried to pull it out, but found that it was stuck. He tried to use his strength to pull it out, but it wouldn't budge. Demons approached him, without a weapon and his shield on the floor, he was prepared to accept his death. Suddenly, out of the blue, a large tsunami wave appeared, washing away and killing the demons. A puzzled Michael, got his answer when he saw Emily standing in front of him. Her looks had him awestruck, it also seemed that she was awestruck of him too.

"Hey, the names Michael" he said, trying to break the silence.

"Mine's Emily. Need a hand getting that blade out?" she asked, Michael nodded as they both grabbed the hilt and pulled as hard as they could. Eventually, it flew out and shot up in the air. Michael took hold of Emily's hand and threw her up in the air, she grabbed hold of the sword and threw it back down towards Michael, who caught it and cut down an advancing demon. He then jumped up and caught Emily with his free hand and gently put her down. He found a nearby sword and gave it to Emily.

"Your definately gonna need this" he smirked as he kicked his shield up from off the ground and grabbed it, ready for battle once more.

* * *

><p>Tala and the others had finally reached the door of the throne room. Tala dismounted, followed by Salima, Rei and Hilary. Tala left instruction for Wolborg to make sure no demons passed that door.<p>

"Time to end this!" Rei shouted as he kicked the door clean off it's hinges. And the sight that greeted them was horrifying, dead bodies of Resistance members lay scattered around, covered in blood. Black flame was erupting from the floor as Tala noticed Spencer nearby, who was staggering and severly wounded.

"Spencer!" Tala screamed as he rushed to the aid of his friend, helping him back over to Salima, who healed him. "Are you alright, Spencer?"

"I am now, thanks for the healing. It was horrible, Kai's possessed! He slaughtered them all, I'm all that's left. Kai killed Garland!"

"Nooo!" Tala wailed as he dropped to his knees. He looked up and saw Kai, dark aura surrounding him. "That bastard won't get away with this!" he screamed, punching the ground in anger. "Spencer, go through the castle and find maids and servants and evacuate them to safety, this will get ugly fast!"

"Yes, Captain Tala" Spencer saluted his commander and set off to find surviving maids and servants.

"Kai, this has gone too far" Hilary pleaded, trying to get Kai back. "I know your in there somewhere, fight it, draw it out of you. Then we can help you"

"He cannot be helped!" bellowed Black Dranzer inside of Kai, walking forward. "He's gone! This kingdom is mine, and you will all be dead or slaves by the end of it all! And you Rei, you will die like your pathetic little family!"

"I'll gut you now you bastard!" Rei screamed, finally losing all control of himself and rage took over as he charged at Kai.

Rei swung first, with Kai going on the defensive and blocked the attack. He then used his brute force to slam Rei against a pillar, forcing him to drop his blade and begin choking. Kai forced his blade forwards against Rei's throat before stepping, Rei collapsed to his knees and -To everyones horror- began vomiting blood up onto the floor. Kai went in to finish Rei off, but Rei rolled out of harms way before Kai could land the killing blow. Rei forced himself up on his feet and picked up the Driger Blade, ready to go again. Kai charged at him and swung rapidly and violently, with Rei narrowly avoiding being hit. He brought his blade around on Kai's last swing and the impact was so great that it knocked their weapons out of each other's hand. Rei then quickly reacted, tackling Kai to ground and began to punch at Kai's face, landing several deadly blows before Kai threw him off. Kai them summoned demons to come his aid, but Tala, Salima and Hilary tried to fight them off and buy Rei more time finish off Kai.

"Come on then, let's finish this!" Rei growled as he pounced at Kai again. What he didn't realise was that Kai had picked up his blade. When he did, it was too late, Kai impaled him on his blade, going all the way through his chest. Kai then swung his blade, sending Rei's now lifeless body flying through the air and crashed into a pillar back first before hitting the floor.

"Rei!" Salima screamed, tears forming in her eyes. She threw down her staff and ran to Rei's side and cradled his body in her arms. "No, it can't end, not like this"

"Rei!" Tala shouted in shock, before anger took over as he ruthlessly beat down the demons in his way in anger over the death of his friend. "You bastards will burn for this!"

"No, no... It can't be the end" Salima began to sob, looking at Rei's dead and lifeless face. Suddenly, a throbbing pain shot through her once more. This time she felt something inside her, it then sprang out of her back. She then noticed this was not something evil, they were angel wings! "Arggggghhh!" Salima screamed, clutching hold of Rei's arms tightly. She looked down and noticed the hole where the blade had pierced Rei's chest began to heal until it was no longer visible, then she heard his heart begin to beat, very slowly until it picked up to a normal rate. Then Rei's eyes opened and he saw Salima.

"Sal... Your an angel!" he said, smiling warmly at her. "Now, help me up, I need to finish him off once and for all" Salima then helped him up and handed him his sword. "For VALEN!" he screamed out, charging back at Kai to fight once more...

* * *

><p>Tyson began to be overwhelmed by the ever growing hordes of demons that continued to amass. His body grew weak and his arms grew tired, he knew it was only a matter of time before he succumbed to death but he would do so fighting. Cutting down more undead that he possibly could, he pressed on, trying to create another opening for his allies.<p>

Raul and Julia were completely tired, unable to swing their swords, they retreated under a large section of rubble which provided shelter from arrows and magic that could be struck down upon them. Looking into each others eyes, they realised that their fears would almost be inevitable, they could potentially die out there. They knew that hiding wouldn't help them escape their doom, but they needed their strength back. If any demons found them, then they would join their parents in Eternia...

Robert and Zeo however, did not share that mindset. They were determined to push onwards, they would succeed, they believed in themselves and their teamwork showed it. Using their shields to smash away demons that they encountered, they managed to force their way inside the Fort itself. Robert knew the way to the throne room and lead him and Zeo to it, knowing that destiny would decide in the end.

* * *

><p>Tala then suddenly noticed in the heat of battle that Rei was alive again and continued his fight against Kai.<p>

"Wh-what the? How did he?" He then looked over at Salima and noticed the angel wings on her back, he finally realised that the throbbing pains she was recieving were signs she was becoming an angel. Not even Salima knew that, only Brooklyn did. "Time to help our friend don't you think?" he asked, Salima nodded as they continued to fight on.

Rei swung his blade against Kai, catching him off gaurd and knocked him back, causing him to stagger. Kai managed to recover quickly and sent a fire blast towards Rei, who was leaping into the air for an attack. Rei noticed and began to swing his blade vertically with force, splitting the fire blast in half and sent it sailing in different directions, crashing to pillars and destroying them. Rei, who was now exhausted, managed to use the last of his strength to charge heroically towards Kai, Driger Blade pointing towards him. Kai went for an attack when suddenly, Rei's sword struck Kai's in the center of the blade and shattered it. Then came the inevitable, as the Driger Blade plunged into the heart of Kai, who let out an inhuman shriek.

"R-Rei? Is that you?" Kai said weakly, looking at the blood dripping from his heart out onto the floor.

"Yes Kai, it's Rei Kon, your friend" Rei responded, looking up at Kai. "Once I pull this blade out, Black Dranzer will perish and you will die!"

"Then so be it, I will die then" Kai sighed, barely able to lift his head. "But there are a few things I need to say first. Rei, I'm so sorry for killing your family. I shouldn't have listened to Voltaire, but I was angry, desperate and utterly stupid, I've spent the last seven months wishing I can take it all back. But what's done is done, you don't have to forgive me, for I comitted the crime so I must pay."

"K-Kai?" Hilary questioned, slowly walking forward towards him. "It's really you, but for not much longer" she then began to feel tears well up inside her, forcing her to stuff them deep down inside. "I don't what happens now, or in the future, or what happened in the past. I love you Kai, and I always will"

"And I love you too... Hilary" Kai managed to speak, he then stared into the determined eyes of his former friend, knowing what was going to happen and nodded understandingly. "Do what you must, King Rei"

"Very well. Farewell, my friend" Rei nodded as well as ripped the blade out. Then Kai's body exploded with large blast that sent Rei flying backwards into a broken pillar. Once he, albiet slowly, got to his feet, he staggered over to where Kai's body was. But it was gone, dissapeared without a trace. Rei then began to notice the other demons in the room began to explode, just like their fallen leader. Smiling in triumph, Rei collapsed into a sitting position up against some fallen rubble.

"Rei" Tala spoke, shocked, suprised and happy at the outcome. "You magnificent bastard! You did it!" he began to cheer as Salima rushed to Rei's side, just as Robert and Zeo arrived.

"Is it over?" Zeo inquired, when he recieved the nod from Tala, all his worries flew out the window. "We did it!" he screamed happily, hugging Robert, who for once was actually smiling. "Let's tell the Resistance the good news" Zeo added, running out into the courtyard, noticing all the other demons out there were exploding as well. "Rei has killed Kai. King Rei has done it!" a huge cheer erupted from the soldiers as Tyson, Michael, Emily and Raul rushed inside to greet their hero.

"I knew you'd pull it off Rei, or should I say King Rei" smiled Michael, bowing respectfully to Rei. "Seems like Tyson's plan worked like a charm eh?"

"Can I just say that's the first time any of my plans have actually worked" chuckled Tyson, leaning against a wall. "Seems like the jobs only half done though, we still got Zeus to worry about"

"Very true, Tyson" Michael replied. "But let's celebrate first, we deserve too!"

"Hey, has anyone noticed that Mystel and Mariah dissapeared about twenty minutes ago? Where could they possibly be?" asked Raul, looking around at the fallen bodies. His question was answered when he saw a shirtless Mystel carrying Mariah bridal style into the throne room, Mariah was wearing his robes and his hair was flattened in certain places. "Forget I asked" Raul chuckled as Mystel approached Tala.

"Do you know where the nearest chamber is Tala?" asked Mystel, sounding exhausted. "This little minx want's to go for round two"

"Ugh, there's one two halls to the left" sighed Tala, pointing in the direction as Mystel and Mariah left the throne room. "Just the thought of those two getting it on makes feel violently and copiously sick!" everyone then burst into laughter as Tala stared at them seriously. "What? It does!"

"It's not that, just the image of you throwing up is" giggled Emily.

"You did it Rei, you saved us from Kai!" smiled a happy Salima, hugging him tightly.

"No" Rei responded with a blank voice.

"What do you mean "No" ?" Salima questioned, hands on her hips.

"I didn't do it, we! We did it" Rei smiled as he gave Salima another hug, almost as tight as her one. He then drew his head back so his face was level with hers, he brushed strands of hair out of her face and noticed the sunrise. "Happy birthday, Salima" he smiled as he passionately kissed her.

"Damn, it's her birthday? she kept that one quiet" smirked Tyson.

"That's not the problem" said Tala, looking at the kissing couple. "What I'm trying to fathom is how come it's took ten months for them to do that!"

"Time to get that crown on your head Rei" Salima giggled as she snuggled into his chest.

"I will, Salima, I will"

To be continued... In chapter 16

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><p>Hilary: What an ending to the chapter, be were far from done yet!<p>

Tyson: That's right, we still gotta kill Zeus' sorry ass!

Salima: Awww, that was such a cute ending.

Emily: I so totally agree there, I love it

Rei: Well that's all we got time for this week.

Zeo: Farewell and we'll see you in the next chapter

Spinster: Until next time Upriser's!


	16. New King, Tough Choices and an old book

Spinster: What's up Upriser's? Here is chapter 16

Max: The story is coming close to the end, but it will be action packed, we promise you

Zeo: If your just joining us, I reccomend you read chapter's 14 and 15 to get a vague idea of what just happened

Salima: Remember, rates and reviews are always welcome and appreciated

Tyson: Remember to enjoy reading this everyone

Tala: You Upriser's are the reason the story has lasted, were coming closer and closer to the end.

Max: And now our story continues...

* * *

><p>Tala slowly approached the crown that lay nearby the throne, he crouched down and gently picked it up from off the ground. The crown itself was relatively cold, causing Tala to shiver a little bit as he approached Rei.<p>

"It's cold as hell, but you'll get used to it" smiled Tala, he slowly raised the crown up above his head and placed it upon Rei's, nestling in with his now messy hair. "All hail King Rei!" Tala added, bowing respectfully. Everybody else bowed too, making Rei feel a little uneasy.

"King Rei, Huh?" Rei said aloud, voicing his thoughts. "I'm not used to everyone bowing towards me and looking to me as a leader, but I suppose I'll have to get used to it then"

"What is your first order then, King Rei?" Tala questioned, standing up straight as he looked around. "It's up to you what we do first"

"We prepare for the final assault upon Zeus' army. We will not sit idly by, waiting for the Darkness to engulf the lands and come for us here. We must take the fight to them, upon the Dead Plains. The fate of Valen rests upon us, we must be ready to ride into battle tomorrow"

"I see" Tyson spoke up after a few seconds of silence. "We've got no other choice, the plan Rei's given us is exactly what we have to do. If we let them come at us, they would already have hold of every nation this side of the Mighty Sea. Strike them down on the Dead Plains, where it's open territory, anyones game to win or to lose, it's all we can do" Tyson finished up as he sat down in a blood soaked seat.

"If my guess is correct, we had 18,000 soldiers when we started this battle" said Emily, going into a statistical mode. "We lost at least 2,500 during this battle, so that means we have 15,500 soldiers at our disposal to battle against Zeus' army"

"That's nowhere near enough to even land a dent in Zeus' army" Michael protested as he began to pace, searching for an answer, but nothing came to him. "We have no other means of recruitment"

"I think this is where I come in" said King, leaning against a pillar as he walked in. "You see, dark magic has it's negative sides, but it also has it's positives. You see, by me learning dark magic, we have an extra edge. Anyone we have slain, I can bend to my will and raise them as the dead, answering my commands. With them answering my commands, we can bring together an army that even Zeus would be shitting his pants at"

"We don't have any other options, under normal circumstances I would say no" said Rei, approaching King slowly till he stood about five yards away from him. "But you've proved you can be trusted, and these are desperate odds..." his voice trailed off until a smile was etched upon his face. "Start collecting bodies to summon, you've got an army to build King, the fate of Valen depends upon it"

"You will not be dissapointed, and congratulations on the victory King Rei, may you rule Ceril for decades to come" King saluted to Rei as he left the throne room, about the time Brooklyn entered.

"First, I must congratulate you upon your victory King Rei, most splendid. But the war with Zeus' army is not your only worry, theres the matter of Salima also" Brooklyn spoke slowly, tilting his head in the direction of Salima.

"What do you mean the matter of Salima?" Rei asked, his voice beginning to fill with worry.

"She is an angel, and therefore she must have a choice to make, by the end of this battle, or now. She must either leave Valen and head to Eternia, never to come back. Or to stay with you, and relinquish all of her angel and magic powers"

"What!?" Rei questioned angrily, hand motioning towards his blade. "Since when can you decide something like that on the spot?"

"This rule has been a part of Eternia law for thousands of years, any human who wields angel powers must make this choice. I however can return to Valen, for I became an angel via death, not by power. Salima has the blood of Lynn Krugeon in her, she was the greatest healer in the history of Valen, Salima is her descendant, she wields that power. It's generally most healers who are able to wield angel powers" Brooklyn continued as he began to approach Salima, who now had a resonating white glow around her. "What's it to be, Salima Aranthis, ancestor of Lynn Krugeon? Give up your powers or head to Eternia?"

"You can't just force her to make an outright decision here and now!" Rei growled, unsheathing his blade. "Let her make her decision in her own time, or so help me I'll have you!"

"Fighting an angel is a completely stupid idea, King Rei, even you underestimate the power we have? You outrageous-"

"Everybody stop fighting!" came a voice as a bright light bathed the throne room, rendering everyones vision to almost near blindness. Once the light subsided, they could not believe their eyes. As a young, charming blonde stood across from them, with a white staff in hand.

"Max?" Michael questioned with a smile, slowly walking forward towards him.

"It's me alright" he said in his ever warm and cheery way as he began to walk forwards also. "I have returned to Valen to help aid you in this battle against Zeus' army. You need all the help you can get, and with three angels on your side, then that should be a major help in itself"

"Max, what are you doing here?" questioned Brooklyn angrily. "Can't you see I'm upholding Eternian law?"

"Oh stop with your silly old laws you grumpy git!" sighed Max, pointing his staff towards Brooklyn. "Let her make the choice when she's good and ready. It's her choice to make, not yours"

"Grr! Fine, she can decide when she's ready to answer. Sometimes I hate you Max" growled Brooklyn.

"Aww, but I thought we were getting along so well, I was going to invite you to dinner and everything" Max teased as he lowered his staff down and relaxed against a broken pillar as Michael began cracking up.

"That's our Maxie!" Michael cheered through the laughter.

In the midst of all this, Tala noticed Hilary staring out at the morning sky, tears slowly dripping down onto the floor. Tala carefully and slowly walked beside her.

"Something on your mind, Hilary?" Tala asked, glancing at her then back at the sky. "It's not good to bottle it up you know, you store it up too much and it can make you sick"

"K-k-k-Kai's gone" Hilary began to weep, letting her head hang low, her hair covered her face. "My love, the most important man in the world to me is dead, I wanted to save him. We could have saved him!"

"Hilary, Black Dranzer had full control over Kai by the time we arrived in the throne room. What chance of saving him had already long gone, the only way we could save him was through death. Plus his bodies gone, no angel can bring him back"

"I don't care! That demon took my Kai away from me, the real Kai. The warm, calm and loving gentlemen with a heart of gold, he always made the effort to see me. He would always travel across the Mighty Sea's storms for two weeks to come to Kilarim to see me, everytime without fail. Voltaire thought he was a soft bastard, so he covered it up by telling you all that he was getting to extra training in far off lands"

"I know what he was like prior to him murdering Rei's family. He was everyone's best friend and brother in almost every way possible, a guy who would find it impossible to tell a lie to your face. That's the Kai that I choose to remember" Tala replied as he observed Hilary's face through a mess of hair, her mind lay elsewhere, back in her own Kingdom, before this had all happened...

* * *

><p><em>Eight Months Ago<em>

_"You just love to walk through forests don't you Kai?" Hilary teased as she nudged his arm as they walked through a dry, warm forest on a Wednesday morning._

_"I only love walking through them with you Hilary, I thought you would have known that by now" Kai responded, giving her a light nudge back. "Besides, it's a great place to get lost in your own imagination. No rules, no boundaries. You and you alone make the rules, you let the people you to let want in in and those you wan't out out. It's like a Kingdom of your own"_

_"Kai, didn't King Zhilo Arvani pass away a few days back?" Hilary questioned, placing her hands behind her back as she continued to walk. "If that's the case, your family has been a very close friend and advisor to the Arvani's. Zhilo's will could make you the future King of Ceril" she added, before stopping and began to look glum. "Which would mean, you will have a Kingdom of your own"_

_"Hilary..." Kai walked towards Hilary and took hold of her hands, eye's meeting hers. "I promise you, Hilary. That made King or not King, I won't every forget you. I will always, ALWAYS have time for you. Don't ever forget that, they are making the decision when I get back, but I promise I'll get the next ship back here once the decision has been made"_

_"Oh Kai... Your my king that's for sure" she smiled as her lips brushed against his softly in a loving and tender kiss..._

* * *

><p>"He never did come back" Hilary continued, sounding broken down and a complete wreck. "If it wasn't for that bastard Voltaire and the demon Black Dranzer..."<p>

"Hilary, you can't blame yourself for what happened" Tala interrupted, placing a reassuring hand on Hilary's shoulder. "None of us could have forseen the way that was gonna go down. But for now, we need to forget Kai, we have Zeus' army to worry about, you need to be strong, we need everyone out there. Use this battle as your revenge on the demons"

"Your right, Tala. I need to be strong for this battle, we need nerves of steel out there and that's just what I intend on bringing with me!"

"This is it then" sighed Ozuma, walking into the throne room and standing next to Raul. "The battle to decided it all will be upon us, seemingly impossible odds in a wasteland against the depths of hell. Nothing's ever bloody easy is it!"

"Well, life's no picnic either Ozuma. How we even got this far is still a mystery" said Raul, checking over the many bandages that covered him since his deadly battle with Boris. "As for Zeus' army, it's the puzzle we'll never solve"

"Where's your optimism guys?" laughed Zeo, placing his hands on both their shoulders. "We are from the Kingdom of Ceril, we have the balls to stare into the face of death and stick two fingers up at it!" Raul and Ozuma looked at him with question marks nearly appearing over there heads. "And before you ask, I havent been drinking, gotta keep in shape you know?" he chuckled as he walked off.

"I don't know what's in the air in Meriscas, but it's fucked him up pretty badly" laughed Raul, Ozuma joining him.

Rei had noticed that Salima hadn't moved from the spot she last stood in, he glanced over at Max, who was currently talking to Zeo before approaching Salima.

"Sal, are you alright?" Rei asked, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Look, I know it's your choice to make and I fully accept that. But I think you should go to Eternia" Salima glared at him as Rei quickly tried to think of how to word his sentences without sounding like a jerk. "What I mean to say is, if you do, then you won't have to suffer the pains of this world. Think about it, do you really wanna be in your seventies, wishing you could have made that choice to be eternally young and able to do what your heart desired? To see how broken and destroyed we as humans really are and not being able to do a damn thing about it?"

"Your right Rei, that much is true. But I don't want to leave you, that I just can't do" Salima sighed, walking away from Rei, who noticed this and followed after her.

"I know that you don't wanna leave me, but you have the chance of a better life. I don't want you to go, but I feel that you must do so, be free from the wars and suffering that plague this world and go to Eternia, where I'll find you. I promise"

"You wan't me to stay" Salima spoke softly with teary eyes. "Then why are you telling me to go?"

"Cause I wan't you to have a better life than this, away from all this suffering and heartache that will befall you. Let's say you decided to stay here and give up your powers, I get attacked and I'm mortally wounded and no one can help me. What would you do then? What if I die on that field? You wan't to live in slavery to Zeus until the day old age takes you?"

"I don't know!" Salima screamed, clutching the scruff of Rei's shirt violently. She realised what she'd just done and carefully let go of Rei and stood back. "I just don't know" she uttered as she walked away. Rei was gonna go after her, but Robert stopped him.

"Let her go for the moment, Rei" Robert said calmly, standing in front of Rei. "Give her some time to cool off, she's pretty wound up at the moment. You can give her that can't you?"

"Yeah, I guess I can" said Rei, placing a hand on Robert's shoulder before turning around to sit down and think things over. "Are you ready, Kon?" Rei said to himself. "To get the task done when the time comes?"

* * *

><p>King stood outside with Miguel and Julia and at least a hundred soldiers, they had helped King amass a huge pile of dead bodies, which took the whole of the morning to gather up.<p>

"Well, that's the last of them" sighed Julia, hauling another dead body in among the others. "This plan is insane, King. Surely your not going to go through with it? I mean, what if this backfires?"

"It will only backfire if I'm struck down in battle" said King, answering Julia's question. "And yes I will go through with this" King added as he approached the bodies, his hands glowing a dark purple as he stretched out his his arms as they began to glow. "Those who have fallen, they're bodies remain. Come to me back from the grave, to fight again!" he then raised his hands above his head, pointing towards the sky as the purple glows from his hands became like pillars and shot into the sky and back down, shattering like broken glass till fragments of the glows struck the bodies, bringing them back too life.

"Whoa" Miguel gasped, jaw hanging wide open in awe at what just happened. "There's gotta be at least 30,000 soldiers that King has just summoned for us!"

"Now we should have 45,500 on our side for the battle against Zeus, I'd say we need another 15,000 before were ready to fight" King smiled triumphantly, knowing that the plan was an instant success. He knew they needed more men, but at least he managed to give everyone a fighting chance.

* * *

><p>As the morning became the afternoon, and the afternoon became the evening, Rei spent all his time sat on the throne. Spending most of the day in silence, thinking over what had happened to him in last few days. From being an ordinary man to the King of Ceril. Suddenly, Rei felt a little jolt of pain as he shifted in the throne. Standing up, Rei noticed the corner of a book sticking out of the throne itself, so he picked it up and dusted it off.<p>

"Oh my God!" Rei gasped in suprise, looking around the throne room. "I never thought in my wildest dreams that I'd ever see this again!" he added, sounding extremely happy. Around this time, Salima had returned to see a jubilant and happy Rei.

"You seem rather happy don't you Rei" Salima spoke, arms crossed and staring out at him with slightly wide eyes. "What is it you got there then? The final book written by Darvic?"

"No, even better Salima" Rei smiled wider as he approached her with the book. "Now tell me, do you remember this book?" Salima then recognised it instantly and gasped in shock.

"It can't be... The book of Heroes!" Salima shouted, grabbing the book as she began to flick through the pages. "I can't believe Kai kept hold of this" she added, looking at the front of the book. "The Book of Heroes, by Salima Aranthis, Rei Kon... and Kai Hiwatari" upon hearing Kai's name, Hilary's head snapped round and she approached Salima and Rei, staring at the book.

"Are there any missing pages to this book at all?" Hilary asked, looking up at Rei, then at Salima.

"Hold on, let me check" Salima answered, flicking through the pages, she noticed quite a few pages had been taken out. "Yeah, there are missing pages... Wait a sec, how would you know about-"

"Kai gave these to me" Hilary cut Salima off, revealing the missing pages. "He wasn't exactly one hundred percent the imaginitive sort, mostly cause half the heroes he created were actually ones me and him made together when he visited me a year ago"

"Thank you for returning these too us, Hilary" Salima smiled, carefully taking back the missing pages. "I think I shall give this a read... If we survive that is" she handed the book and the missing pages to Rei. Who sat back down on the throne and stared intently at the book.

"Someday... we can create a greater legend in life than just in a book"

* * *

><p>Rei: The Book Of Heroes? Awesome!<p>

Salima: What's gonna happen in chapter 17, Zeo?

Zeo: Chapter 17 will have the journey to the Dead Plains and the beginning of the final battle

Max: Can't wait for that, it'll be epic

Mathilda: That's all we got time for now

Kai: We'll see you soon in chapter 17

Max: Until next time...

Max and Spinster: FIGHT ON!


	17. Fight To The End Part 1

Spinster: Well here we are guys, the start of the final battle of Uprising

Oliver: It's been a great ride! I hope the ending is great.

Rei: Time to start the conclusion of the story.

Salima: Remember to rate and review guys, very much appreciated.

Spinster: Oliver, will you do the honours?

Oliver: My pleasure, and now our story continues...

* * *

><p>The next morning at first light, the rays of the sun shining through the windows as Rei was fast asleep in a sitting position upon the throne.<p>

"Rei..." said Oliver in a hushed whisper, who had walked into the throne room to wake up Rei, by Tala's orders. "Rei, you gotta wake up" Oliver continued, but Rei didn't budge. Sighing loudly, Oliver approached Rei, leant his mouth to Rei's ear and screamed. "Rei! Time to get up!" this seemed to do the trick, as Rei jumped and flapped around like a frightened pigeon once he awoke. "Good, your up" smiled Oliver in satisfaction as he turned around to leave. "The day has come for us all" he added, this time sounding very cold and sad as he left.

"So the day is upon us" sighed Rei, slowly getting up onto his feet, still feeling exhausted and hurt from the battle with Kai nearly twenty four hours previously. He looked around the throne room, it was still partially destroyed, but the maids had cleaned the place up a bit. "This could be the last day I ever stay in this city, but I will try with all the power within me not let Valen fall" he then walked through the halls to the courtyard, where he saw thousands upon thousands of soldiers, all awaiting Rei's instruction.

"About time you woke up" chuckled Michael, walking towards Rei with his sword and shield strapped to his back with Emily beside him. "We've been waiting for hours, I hope your ready for this"

"King's done a grand job on this one" said Tala, standing side by side with Rei, inspecting the troops laid out before them. "A stroke of luck is what we call that, don't you agree King Rei?" Tala asked, nudging Rei slightly, but he got no answer out of him. "Look, I know you've got a lot on your mind right now. What with a whole country to run and an army to lead, but believe me King Rei, things will get better. I know you'll do your family proud out there on the Dead Plains, you will survive, we will be victorious and you will rule Ceril for many years to come"

"Thanks for the motivation, Tala" Rei smiled, an honest and truthful smile too as he reached into his pocket. "I've been wanting to give this to Salima for the last couple of days, but I said that she should leave to go to Eternia once the battles over, to live an eternal life with pain, dispair or suffering. But if she stays, this is what I want to give her" Rei then dug deep into his pocket and pulled out a shining gold wedding ring.

"You really wanna make that commitment?" Tala asked out of pure shock, eye's popping out of his head. "Of course you do" he added, with his eyes and facial expression returning to normal. "Make sure it's special, Rei." he patted Rei on the shoulder before walking away to engage in a conversation with Robert and King.

"You sleep well Rei?" asked Salima from out of nowhere, causing Rei to hastily place the ring back in his pocket before turning around to face her.

"Yeah, I did thanks" he answered, kissing her on the cheek softly before looking down at the floor. "I think I went and had too much. But that doesn't matter now, the end of it all, it's going to happen on the Dead Plains, for better or worse" he then saw a horse nearby and clambered on top of it. He looked at Salima and offered her his hand. "Will you ride with me into the depths of the unknown?"

"Only with you Rei, only with you" Salima smiled as she took hold of Rei's hand and climbed onto the horses back, arms firmly wrapped around Rei's waist. "Ready when you are, sweetie"

"Alright then" he smiled, riding the horse to the edge of balcony-like ledge that overlooked the army, Rei stopped and shouted to the soldiers. "Move out! We ride for the dead plains now, to victory!" this spurred the soldiers into a rallying cheer for their leader, with the exception of the undead under King's command of course. Rei looked behind him, he noticed his friends alongside him already on horse back. Tala and Hilary were on one horse, ready for battle. Raul and Julia had seperate horses, but shared the same fearless, nerves of steel look in their eyes. Rei then looked to the sky, where he saw Max and Brooklyn flying ahead. "Wanna do the honours, Michael?"

"With pleasure my friend. Let's ride!" Michael commanded, everyone began the long and tiring journey to the dead plains. With one thing playing on all their minds, it shaped the past, it shaped the present and is shaping the future... a little thing called destiny.

* * *

><p>They rode for days and nights without rest, eager to get their end or victory over and done with. They finally arrived upon the Dead Plains, two weeks after they set off on this quest to bring Zeus to an end. Rei took a good look at the land strectched before him, the sky was black and cloudy, with the clouds being made of flames. The ground was barren and scorched black, with not a single bit of life to be seen in this land, not even maggots or vultures picking off the bones of the dead. The ground had large cracks upon it, spanning the entire length of the Dead Plains. Rei took a deep breath as he saw Zeus' army in the distance, a sea of undead and demons, clanging spears and shields, ready for war. Dismounting from the horse with Salima, Rei let the horse go. As horses were terrified of the Dead Plains, with others quickly following suit.<p>

"It's time, King Rei. Time to carve your name into the annals of history" Tala smiled warmly, preparing his weapons for the final battle. "Now give them a good rallying speech that they will never forget" Rei nodded back at Tala's words and stood out in the open, casuing the soldiers' attention to be diverted to him.

"Men, women and angels alike" Rei began, swallowing down his fear like a fine wine as he continued to talk. "We stand here today in the face of death, to save all that is good in this world. We are Valen's only hope, the protector's of this world, now is the time we can truly say that. So remember this day everyone, for today is the day of victory!" this speech whipped just about everyone around him into a crazed frenzy, spears clanged on the floor and roars of men and women rang through the air.

Rei then took a deep breath and shut his eyes, thinking of journey that took him here. Learning of being the true king, becoming the wielder of the Driger Blade, his battle against Tyson, victory in the battle for Exidoia, losing Max, struggling against the stone giants. Problems with Mariam and Salima, the Wilsmore allies, and his victory over Kai. But this topped all of them, with the fate of Valen hanging in the balance...

It was time to become a real hero...

Drawing out the Driger Blade from it's scabbard, Rei clentched tightly on the hilt, gritted his teeth then unleashed an almighty roar worthy of a tiger. Taking a deep breath, he placed on foot forward before courage took over and he broke into a run towards Zeus' army. he would not let fear take hold of him, he would not fall and die here. For he was King Rei Kon, and this was his tale of greatness!

Courage and heroism began to take hold of everyone else as they charged off into fate and their destiny or their end...

Rei got the first attack of the battle in, swinging violently into the horde, slicing a demon in half and beheading another. With rage beginning to fill his entire body, he obliterated anything that stood in his path towards the middle of the horde. His blade clashed with a demon shield, knocking the sword out of his hands. Then, in an act of insane anger, Rei punched the demon, with his hand going all the way through the demons chest. He brought a second fist into the demons chest, with that fist going through too. He then send his fists in opposite directions, ripping the demon in two and painting Rei in blood.

Tala unleashed his ice magic from the start, giving his allies the starting advantage. He froze the front lines after Rei had busted through them alone, allowing the Resistance to smash through them with courage and vigor. Tala looked up the battlefield and saw Rei struggling alone, without even thinking Tala ran forward and made an ice path across the floor and skidded across it with his dual swords in hand to strike down the demons that impeded his progress. He slid across the path that he'd made until he was at Rei's side, fighting back to back with his king to save Valen, just like how it all started with their battle with bandits on the road to Dunamis.

Using his pyromancy, Raul became a vital part of the battle. He willingly risked himself by hurtling himself into danger and using his fire magic to burn down as many demons as he possibly could, he knew that his end would await him, but he'd go down fighting like a hero. He was quickly aided by Julia and King in their quest to help King Rei to victory, if they had to lay their bodies on the line, then so be it...

Salima stayed back and healed as many allies as she could, knowing it will all be too much in the end. She wondered where Rei had gone, he dissapeared from sight once he made his first strike. She worried for his safety, and if he could strike Zeus down. Her mind was also filled with the choice she had yet to make...

"Watch out!" cried Robert as he ran in front of Salima and wiped out a group of pikemen with his mace and shield. "Keep your focus Salima, we have a battle to win!" he shouted again as he dissapeared into the battle just as quickly as he arrived to save her.

Mystel and Mariah climbed a large rock that stuck out of the ground and reached upwards towards the sky. Once they finally reached the top, they had a good view of the battle below. Using two rocks, Mystel managed to set an arrow on fire and rained it down upon the battlefield, with Mariah following with arrows of her own. They were soon joined by Oliver and the many Kjori archers that rained down upon the demons with a vengence.

Rei and Tala found themselves entirely outnumbered and outmatched against the hordes of demons. They were about to accept death, until the most unbelievable thing happened...

The ground near them began to violently shake, almost like some form of earthquake. Until the ground next to Rei exploded with molten lava pouring upwards towards the sky as a figure emerged from the lava, unsheathing a large two handed blade and swiftly struck down demons approaching Kai and Rei. The figure had the hood on a black cloak over his head, before he whipped it off to reveal a slate haired teenager.

"So... Did you miss me?" he laughed as he helped Tala and Rei to their feet.

"Kai? Your back!" said Rei happily, before sounding slightly concerned. "You are Kai right?"

"Yes, the real Kai. I've just escaped from the depths of hell to put things right, this was what we dreamed about. The two of us fighting Zeus' army together. Plus we best hurry, Zeus was hot on my heels on my escape. We best clear the field the best we can"

"Glad to have you back, Kai" smiled Rei once again as he picked up the Driger Blade. "It'll be an honour to fight alongside you once more"

"Likewise Rei, likewise" Kai replied as more demons approached them. "Let's get 'em boys!" Kai bellowed as he, Rei and Tala charged into battle again...

To be continued...

* * *

><p>Kai: Well, it seems I'm back then<p>

Zeo: Good to have you back Kai!

Oliver: Well, I can't wait for the next chapter

Rei: Agreed there Oliver, can't wait for the conclusion to come

Salima: That's all we have time for Uprisers, see you in part 2 of the final battle

Spinster: Until then, fight on!


	18. Fight To The End Part 2

Spinster: Heyo! welcome fellow Uprisers to part two of the final battle

Oliver: This is getting exciting, I can't wait to see it unfold

Salima: As are all the Upriser's, Oli.

Kai: Spinster hopes you enjoy the story, rates and reviews are always welcome.

Spinster: Your turn to do the honours, Salima.

Salima: And so our story, continues...

* * *

><p>Kai lead the three through the hordes as they cut down as many as they possibly could. Almost hopelessly outmatched, they pressed on back towards their allies to increase their chances of survival. In the heat of battle, Brooklyn flew down to assist them in their struggles against the demons, using his fists and angelic strength to obliterate as many as he could to get them off their backs. Robert and Zeo managed to force their way through to them.<p>

"Hows the situation?" shouted Kai mid-swing while trying to avoid numerous sword strikes aimed at him. "Yes it's me, the true me. Now tell me what's going on!" Zeo and Robert exchanged confused glances as they began to explain mid fight.

"Well, were close to the heart of this army. Many of the other soldiers are now breaking through theirs ranks, we should be able to hold our own, but for how much longer I'm not so sure" said Zeo, worry and concern plastered across his face, which was a rarity to see in him.

"Right, I know what must be done" Tala muttered just loud enough for Rei to hear, which of course got Rei's attention. "Cut a path for the rest of the Resistance to break through. I will try to draw out Zeus and finish him off"

"Are you insane Tala? You'll get yourself killed!"

"I'd rather die on a battlefield than in old age, lying on a bed waiting for my end to stop my suffering" Tala responded angrily, coming off very confrontational. Rei didn't know what to say or do, he just froze on the spot. Tala had never acted this way to him before, he didn't wan't Tala to go off on his suicidal mission, but he knew Tala had gone too far down that road. He had to stand aside this time. "You do what you have to do, and I do what I need to do. See you when it's over" Tala quickly flashed Rei a trademark smirk as dissapeared into horde, out of Rei's sight.

"God speed Tala, God speed"

* * *

><p>Demons began to climb the large rock that Oliver, Mariah, Mystel and the Kjori soldiers were raining arrows down upon them. Knowing it would come to a sword battle, Oliver ordered his men to drop theirs bows and unsheathed their cold steel blades, ready to taste blood. Mystel threw down his bow and unsheathed two identical scimitars. Mariah however, just climbed higher and higher up the rock to continue to fire down...<p>

The demons finally reached the flat section of the high rock and charged for the Kjori soldiers. Oliver unsheathed his rapier and lunged at the first one to climb over, not giving them a chance to get a single foothold on this rock. Mystel, upon seeing this tactic, sprang into action. He ran towards the edge, nearly barrelling Oliver over and jumped off the edge. He landed part ways down on another flat section, using his rapid speed, he quickly began to dispatch as many demons as he could with his graceful acrobatic style. Some where still climbing past him, but he wiped out as many as he could, so long as his arms would let him.

Out of nowhere, Mariam climbed swiftly up the rocks to aid Mystel, using her water magic to wash the demons off the rock. Approaching Mystel, she then turned around so they were now side by side, prepared to take on the rest of the demons that would cross their path.

"Need a hand?" she asked, with a half smile and her gaze fixed upon the next wave of demons ahead of her.

"I would prefer two hands, but one will do" Mystel smirked, letting out a small laugh as more demons climbed over the rock. "Come on Mariam, let's kick some ass!"

* * *

><p>Salima continued to observe the carnage ahead of her, she was still concerned for Rei's safety. But she knew in her heart that he would be able to handle himself out there. But she knew she could not sit here and do nothing. So she decided to embrace the angel within her, with a flash of white light, she dropped her staff and floated into the air. The white aura around began to glow until it became a blinding light.<p>

Once the light had subsided, Salima's attire had changed completely. Gone was the armour, now replaced by a dazzling white robe very similar to the purple mage one she wore before, minus the sleeves. Wings then sprouted from her back as then began to take flight and aid Brooklyn and Max.

"I have a choice to make, and I will make it!"

* * *

><p>Tala approached the heart of the demon army, the first he noticed was a glaringly huge hole in front of him. It must have been at least three miles wide and god knows how many foot deep. Sheathing his blades, Tala commanded ice magic from his hands as they began to glow.<p>

"Come on Zeus! You demon lord bastard! I ain't afraid of you or your pathetic little army. You fight me now, Tala Valkov of Ceril. I am the champion to smite you here and now, come and taste ice you demon scum!"

The ground around him began to shake violently, becoming more violent to the point Tala was knocked off balance and onto his knees. From there, he saw Zeus rise into the air. The size of Zeus was immense and looked like he had the strength of a god.

"Well, if I wasn't so fearless. I may have just pissed myself" Tala chuckled to himself as he pointed a balled up fist towards Zeus. "Let's do this!" Tala screamed as he leapt into action. _Mother, father. Will make you both proud today..._

* * *

><p>Raul was the first to notice Zeus rise into the sky (Other than Tala). He noticed a large pillar of ice being formed, knowing it was Tala, he hoped that Tala would succeed and bring this war to an end at last. He brought himself to reality and began to fight his way through, kill or be killed, to the last man.<p>

In the heat of the battle, Raul began to smell burning, he then looked at his hand in shock. His hand was on fire!. And the not the kind of fire that came from his hand when he used fire magic. Yet he felt no pain whatsoever, he knew what to do, it was a spirit beast calling to him.

"Torch Pegasis! I summon you now to fight at my side!" Raul then punched the air, with a large fireball erupting from his fingertips. Out of this eruption came Torch Pegasis, galloping towards it's master. Raul hopped onto it's back and began to ride off deeper into the battle.

"I will not fall... My time to die is not now"

* * *

><p>Tala used his ice magic to build himself a pathway to the skies to take Zeus in combat. Tala knew that this was a mis-match to say the least, but that wasn't going to stop him from taking this beast head on. From the start, Tala was up against it, narrowly avoiding a lethal punch from Zeus' almighty fist. Zeus went for another blow but Tala dodged that too, then Tala went in on the attack, slashing at Zeus' massive arms.<p>

Zeus then retaliated by smashing Tala in the chest, sending him hurtling towards the floor at a rapid pace. Tala used his ice path to make a path to slide down safely, but only just in time. Turning to see Zeus coming towards him, Tala decided that the time was right. Throwing off his gauntlets, Tala used his full power, which was also enhanced by the Wolborg Stone. He charged up a large ice bolt, waiting till Zeus' fist was close enough.

"Time... to DIE!" Tala screamed as he unleashed his full power, which froze the entire of Zeus' left arm. Tala then followed up with the right arm, before saving his best trick for last. Digging deep down inside, Tala mustered even more power by summoning and large ice fist over the top of his right hand. Capitalising on his opportunity, Tala dashed forward and uppercutted Zeus high into the air. Then, as if he had springs in his boots, Tala jumped high into the air (Assisted by ice magic of course) and unleashed an almighty punch, sending Zeus down into the abyss of the hole and back to hell where he belonged.

Tala landed on the ground and panted heavily, using his full power had taken so much out of him. Dropping to one knee, he faced away from the whol with a smirk on his face. He did it, he slayed Zeus single handedly. Soon enough, Raul, Max, King, Rei and Salima had finally cut their way through to see a victorious Tala staggering to his feet.

"Hehe, I did it guys... he's gone" Tala shouted heroically, punching the air in victory. Unbeknownst to him, Zeus, now free of the ice binding his arms, rose back up from the pit behind him. Tala noticed the concerned expressions on his friends, and slowly turned around. "Oh for fucks sake!" Tala cursed, but then it was too late. Zeus grabbed Tala in it's claw of a hand and crushed him repeatedly, the others watching in horror as blood poured out of Tala's mouth until Zeus threw him to the ground.

"No!" Rei cried as he and Salima rushed to his side, seeing their friends lifeless body cause them to start crying. King, Max and Raul looked on in horror. Then Rei clentched his fist and looked up at Zeus. "Your going down for you what did! You hear me? You'll pay!"

"I'm going after him with you, Rei. Too whatever end" Salima spoke up too, standing at Rei's side, eyes fixed on Zeus, ready for the final duel that was to take place.

"Were going in with you my lord, to the death" Raul spoke up as he, King and Max stepped forward (Or rode forward in Raul's case, due to still being on Torch Pegasis) "Let's get this son of a bitch!"

To be continued...

* * *

><p>Rei: Tala's dead?<p>

Spinster: He could be, I'm not giving away any details until the next chapter, the finale of the battle for Valen

Salima: In which case we'll have to wait a while

Rei: Yeah, but it'll sure be worth it

Oliver: That's all we got time for Uprisers

Zeo: Until next time...

Spinster: Fight on!


	19. Fight To The End Part 3

Spinster: What's up Upriser's it's the third and final part to battle for Valen!

Salima: This is getting so exciting, I cannot wait for it

Zeo: Spinster hopes that you've enjoyed the story so far, and that you enjoy this chapter

Rei: Rates and reviews are very much welcome, as always.

Spinster: Your turn Rei

Rei: And so our story, continues...

* * *

><p>The heroes began their final assault upon Zeus, with Rei leading the charge. Zeus in response, charged in return, which would look like an epic collision course. Something suddenly flashed through Rei's mind, something that was told to him a long time ago.<p>

"Jump into his mouth when he's close enough, the only way to stop him is from the inside!" Rei commanded, everyone looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "You have to trust me on this, it's something my father told me when I was young"

"You best be right or else!" shouted Raul as he braced himself for the jump into Zeus' mouth. Zeus got closer and closer, widening it's large mouth, until it was wide enough for a human to pass through.

"Now!" Max shouted as he and Salima flew into Zeus' mouth, who where then shortly followed by King, Raul and Rei. Once inside, Max noticed their was a battalion of demons inside.

"What th-" King gasped at the sight of the horde. "So Zeus is nothing more than a mere puppet? This doesn't make any sense!" using some dark magic, King created a contracting chain that binded the demons together and choked them to death, blood spewing out of their mouths like a fountain.

"That could be the case, but none of that matters now. We gotta a world to save!" said Salima, walking deeper in Zeus' body. As Zeus flew around in the battle, it caused the heroes to be thrown around his insides like a bouncy ball in a small box. Eventually, they managed to stabalise themselves enough to press on towards the heart of Zeus. They continued to travel through the inside until at last they found it. The heart of Zeus!

"It's time to put an end to all of this" Rei sighed to himself, slowly unsheathing the Driger Blade, almost as if he was savouring the very moment Zeus would soon be cut down. He looked to all the faces that followed him inside, they all had their stories to tell, and all of them would speak of the very moment that they saved the world of Valen. Big or small, they still played their vital roles in the battle for Valen, even those on the outside who were still fighting valiantly against the enemy, they were also the true heroes of this battle. Taking in a deep sigh, Rei then charged at the heart of Zeus, brought his arm back and unleashed a mighty stab at the heart, expecting the end of it all...

Nothing...

Rei stared at the heart with utter disbelief, it had no effect on the heart whatsoever! He swiftly retracted his the Driger Blade and made another stab at the heart, once again, no damage at all. King held his staff up high as Rei swung for the heart again, this time a dark aura surrounded the Driger Blade and with a loud "Clang" the Driger Blade struck the heart and caused some damage, albeit very little. This was emphasized by the fact Zeus began to jerk upwards violently and uncontrolably.

"It's not going to work on it's own Rei" said King, slowly walking forwards towards the heart until he stopped at Rei's side. "You have to combine what you have available to you for Zeus to be defeated. Luckily, you have the tools with which to defeat Zeus" King added, raising his staff before plunging it into the heart of Zeus. Rei slowly nodded before plunging the Driger Blade into the heart once more, noticing the dark aura returning as a little gem in the hilt began to glow. Upon noticing it, Salima used her staff and plunged it into the heart as well, creating a light aura around the dark aura.

It was now beginning to have a major effect on Zeus, who was now unstable on the battlefield, ploughing into anything and everything that was in it's path, striking the floor violently, which pounded against it's chest sending a small earthquake through it's body.

"Now you, Max. Use your water magic on the heart!" King commanded to Max as he struggled to keep a grip on his now violently shaking staff. Max flew forward and struck his staff into the heart of Zeus. This time a violently shockwave came through as they struggled to hold on, but Zeus still would not die.

"I-it's not working, all is lost" Rei muttered sadly, he was just about to retract his blade and give up, until...

"Cause you guys seem to forget that you need a little firepower!" came a shout from behind them. Rei glanced over his shoulder to see Raul, hand ablaze as well as his saber. Raul took a step back, prepared himself then ran at Zeus' heart, leaping into the air and then stabbing the fiery blade into the heart.

Rei glanced down at the Driger Blade's gem. It seemed to flash multiple colours of the elements they all shared until the Driger Blade became a radiant light, prompting Rei to drive the blade further in, and in doing so got straight to the heart of the matter. (No pun intended)

The heart began to thump violently, it's pace getting quicker and quicker until it stopped completely. Then without warning, the heart suddenly exploded, plastering Rei and the others in thick amounts of blood. It was at that moment, Rei suddenly realised that they were trapped inside, and that Zeus was going to explode...

BANG!

* * *

><p>The soldiers of Valen looked on as Zeus began to shriek in pain before freezing in mid-air, before exploding into the nothingness, with a golden orb remaining as it floated down towards the ground at a gentle pace. The soldiers began to cheer as the demons left on the field were either cut down or dissovled into nothingness, just like their lord.<p>

"He did it, Rei Kon did it!" shouted Michael proudly, raising his sword high in the air.

"Well done, Rei. You saved the world from me and Zeus, I'm proud of you, and proud to call you a best friend" Kai spoke quitely to himself, staring at the golden orb floating toward the ground, prompting him to walk towards it.

"We did it, we did it!" Oliver grinned as he climbed down the rocks to join in the victory celebrations in earnest, following him was Mariam and then Mystel, who was carrying Mariah down with him.

Kai finally reached the golden orb, peering at it, he could see Rei and the others inside alive and well. In the middle of the orb was Salima, seemingly summoning the orb to protect them and was still holding it in place until they landed on safe ground. As soon as they touched ground, Rei broke into a run towards his friend, Tala, who was lying motionless on the ground.

"..Y-you did it, Kon... You saved us..." Tala managed to speak through the pain of his broken body. "Don't get help... you have... you have to let me g-go"

"N-no, you can't. I'll get Salima over here, she can fix you up aga-"

"No, Rei" Tala protested, using all the strength he could muster to grasp Rei's shoulder. "It's time for me to go... But I'm proud of you, this is your tale that's being told...not mine. You are my best friend, I'm proud of you... it's been fun..." and with those words, Tala's grip on Rei weakend until his hand dropped to the floor lifelessly.

Rei began to sob in disbelief and punched the ground, suddenly he noticed a blade of grass next to Tala's hand, then another appeared and another.

"It's Tala's victory wish" Brooklyn spoke, as if to answer the questions in Rei's head. "When the forces of good are victorious, then a hero that falls is granted one wish. And Tala's wish is for this dead and barren land to become a peaceful land of green and nature. See for yourself" Rei looked all around again, grass was appearing everywhere as the dark clouds parted and the sun began to appear over this land for the first time in two thousand years.

King noticed that Tala had died, he signalled the others to be silent for a moment for their fallen friend. While they bowed their heads down, King saluted the sky, showing a respectful gesture to Tala.

"You won't be forgotten, I promise that" said King as he finished saluting the sky, he went over to the others to see if they were okay. Salima and Max then approached Rei and Brooklyn.

"The time has come, Salima for you to make a choice. Now is the time for us to depart, so what will it be?" Brooklyn asked Salima, glancing at Rei before looking back at Salima.

"After thinking about it, I've come to my decision" said Salima flatly, a rare tone to find in her voice. Upon hearing that voice, Rei walked over to a spot where he could not see her go, he just couldn't bear to watch. Suddenly, he felt something wrap tightly around his waist. Glancing down, he noticed a pair of hands. Turning a head around, he noticed Max's and Brooklyn leaving, minus Salima. Lowering his head slightly, he saw her standing there, arms wrapped around him and smiling.

"You...decided to stay and give up your powers for me?" Rei asked, finding it hard to not smile.

"Yeah, your the one I love, why would I wan't to leave you?" Salima said sweetly, making Rei realised he said the same thing to here back in Exidoia. "Come here Rei" she smiled as Rei turned around and hugged her tightly. He looked up slightly to notice Kai walking towards him. Kai placed his sword on the ground and bowed respectfully to Rei.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you Rei, I murdered your family. I know I can't change the past, but i'll spend the rest of my nights wishing I could take it all back"

"It's okay Kai, you had no control. I hearby declare that you are forgiven for all of your crimes!" Rei spoke defiantly, he studied Kai's shocked expression, which then turned to a smile as he bowed and left.

"The soldiers are celebrating, It's best that you don't keep them waiting" Kai smiled as he approached the soliders who were celebrating.

"It's all over now" smiled Rei, looking at Salima directly in the eyes. "What's done is done"

"A case of all's well, end's better" Salima smiled as she caught Rei's lips in a deep kiss.

* * *

><p>Salima: Aww, what a sweet ending to the chapter!<p>

Rei: Agreed their Sal!

Kai: What's gonna happen in the final chapter.

Spinster: Well, it's gonna be the epilogue, and also fellow Upriser's stay tuned for the epilogue, cause at the end there will be an important annoucement!

Oliver: Oooh, sounds interesting

Spinster: That's all we got time for, see you in the final chapter!


	20. All's Well End's Better

Spinster: Hail there, fellow Uprisers. Today is the end of an era, that's right, it's the final chapter of Uprising!

Oliver: Such a shame it's finishing, but all good things must come to an end sometime right?

Salima: That's very true Oliver, very true indeed

Rei: Spinster hopes you have enjoyed this entire story from start to finish, and hopes that ending is satisfying enough for you

Kai: As always

Michael: Rates and reviews are welcome

Zeo: Don't forget to read the ending author notes for an important annoucement.

Spinster: All together now...

Everyone: And so our story continues!...

* * *

><p>Rei's POV<p>

_Here's __my first entry into my royal journal, here it goes..._

_Six months have passed since the battle for Ceril and of Valen as a whole had been won, many destroyed cities on the border of where we fought and Kuljia are in the process of rebuilding. Which in truth is not wholly a bad thing, as Kuljia's has been better fortified and is now bigger and better than ever. All the things that ruined this city under the a possessed Kai's rule has either been fixed or in the stages of being fixed. A lot of families have been re-homed after the battle for Kujlia, everything gets better and better._

_We lost Tala six months ago, though we try to move on a get through it we keep on constantly reminding ourselves of our loss. But to honour him, we had a funeral arranged for Tala and there is a statue out in the courtyard of him for remembrance of the hero he was and always will be. In fact, I am looking at it right now, a true leader was Tala if I ever saw one myself._

_Speaking of leaders, a lot of companions have gone their seperate ways, but I suppose it's for the best. Kane stepped down from his post when he was offered to be the ruler of Dunamis, a position he took up gladly. Tyson and the remnants of the mage hunters were going to serve their time after the war, but the citizen's thought that what Tyson and the others had been through served more as a community service. To this day, I still keep in contact with Tyson, he's moved out of Dunamis to a small village on the edge of the city._

_Michael had returned to Exidoia to maintain his captain duties, and due to Judy now having no heir due to Max's death, Michael is being considered to be next in line for the throne. Emily left Kuljia to be Michael's personal assistant, last I heard they are now together._

_Julia left Ceril to go and live her life in Wilsmore, King moved over there shortly afterwards after amassing enough money to buy not only a house, but set up his own apple sauce business!. Yes that does sound rather funny, but from his most recent visit six days ago, I heard that the business is booming. Guess everyone's lives are on the up and up these days._

_Though, not everyone has left..._

_Mystel and Mariah left for a little while to go travelling, but on their return Mystel had discovered enough vast treasures from a kingdom long lost underground that he had amassed a fortune, he and Mariah bought a house just a five minutes walk from where I reside, here at Fort Comolwa. Mystel has been looking to invest some of his money, but the right opportunity hasn't arrived._

_After Johnny had fled during the battle of Ceril/Kuljia, whichever you wan't to call it. I have bestowed the captaincy of the Ceril armies to Robert, a man who, like Tala, knows what it takes to be a leader on the fields of war. Zeo serves as a kind of vice-captain to Robert, with Zeo taking control when Robert is off on family business._

_Raul however has almost become a household name around the city, he's not quite sure how to deal with it. Prehaps he's not used to that sort of attention yet, but I think, eventually, that he will adjust to it. Also after five months of having that bandage around his eye, Raul finally found a mage who could heal his eye for him. To this day I don't know who it is, but I will find out._

_And now we come to Kai..._

_When everyone heard about Kai still being alive and kicking, the entire kingdom was up in arms. Kai however, gave a heartfelt speech about the experiences that caused him to be possessed by this demon and, after a couple of months or so, people are starting to warm to him like they used to a year ago. He spends most of his workdays in a bookstore now, though every odd couple of days he comes around to visit. He's started to make some good friendships out there, though one of his work friends seems more attached to Kai then he would feel comfortable with. I believe the guys name was Wyatt, which is funny cause if it is I remember when Wyatt used to hang around with me, Kai and Salima before he moved away._

_Kai seems to have become more quiet and keep himself to himself, but who can really blame him after all he went through? He's still as friendly as ever, good old Kai. Sometimes I stop and think to myself. "Would things have turned out better or worse if Kai hadn't been corrupted?" Though, and this might be slightly controversial, but I think some good came out of Kai becoming corrupted. It sent me on a quest to see the world, see new people, learn things about myself that I didn't know, taught me the errors to things I didn't put right. But only in that aspect._

_And finally, we come to Salima..._

_Salima has been supportive of me every step of the way during my reign, I honestly can't do this without her. Even though we are both eighteen now, she is still wise beyond her years, she seems to have a knack for seperating fact from fiction, which has pretty much served her well all of her life. I love her with every ounce of being that's in me, which has just made me remember. I still have that ring I was going to give her, I know I showed Tala it months back, but I think now would be the right time._

_Oh here she comes now, wish me luck..._

* * *

><p>Normal POV<p>

Salima entered the room just as Rei set the book down and closed it shut. Rei glanced up at Salima, she looked the same but something seemed different to Rei. The only glaring thing he'd noticed was that Salima's red hair had gone darker in colour, and had grown slightly longer. She was wearing a purple dress with black sleeves with a red embroidered eagle pattern strechting across it, which was the sort of logo for their flag.

"The others are outside in the courtyard, Rei" Salima spoke softly as she planted a soft kiss on Rei's cheek, then turned to glance out of the window. "Shall I send them up here?"

"No, I'll go down to them instead" smiled Rei, placing the book to one side and took Salima by the hand as they walked down to the courtyard. "You know, I have to thank Kai very much for something"

"What may that be then, Rei?" Salima asked teasingly to him, glancing up at him for a brief moment. "Was it something that happen months ago?"

"Yeah, if it wasn't for Kai giving me a motivational kick up the ass, then I probably would never have plucked up the courage to ask you out on that day. Yeah, so Kai gave me the push that was very much needed if you will"

"Really?" Salima teased again as she let out a little giggle before glancing at Rei again and stopped on the spot, she looked into Rei's eyes and instantly knew that something was bothering him. "Rei, something troubles you it seems. Care to tell me what it is?"

"Hehe" Rei laughed lightly, knowing that Salima was excellent at reading his mind and facial expression. He stopped, backed up a few paces so that he was next to Salima once more and then he stopped again. "I don't think anything is really troubling me at all at this current moment in time, just a few things on my mind that's all"

"Are you sure? Cause I can tell when your lying" Salima spoke in a childish tell-tale voice. "Come on, you can tell me. What it's not like your proposing marriage...Right?"

Rei did not answer, but instead he took hold of Salima's hands. And still, without saying a word, Rei put his right leg forward and his left one back. Almost as if he had rehearsed this move, Rei almost casually bent his left knee as he slowly went down onto one knee. Rei then smiled when he saw the change of expression on Salima's face, from shock to pure happiness. Salima was almost crying tears of joy when Rei slowly reached into his pocket, took out a little box, opened it and presented her with the ring. Then he looked her in the eyes, biding his time before he finally popped the question...

"Salima... Will you marry me?" Rei asked with all the honesty and sincerity in his heart, he noticed Salima was almost in trance, thinking that this was some sort of beautiful dream that she would wake up from soon. Until she finally spoke.

"Yes, yes I will, Rei... Yes I will marry you!" She answered happily as she wrapped her arms tightly around him as their friends then appeared out of nowhere.

"Congrats, Rei" said Kai, smiling while clapping along with the others. "Seems like this time you didn't need the motivational kick up the backside then, eh?" he added, getting a few laughs.

"Wait, you guys knew he was gonna do this?" Salima questioned, still smiling from the question she was asked moments ago.

"Yeah, we've known for ages that Rei wanted to marry you. I for one are quite happy with you two being together" said Mystel, smiling and sounding rather emotional.

"That's not the Mystel I know and love" Kai smirked, wondering what on earth would happen next. Fortunately, that didn't take very long.

"So then" Mystel started up again, but this time there mischief in his voice and in his eyes. "I bet twenty gold that their first child is a girl!" this got a roar of laughter from everyone around them.

"With the joking aside, I'm very proud of you... both of you" smiled Raul, putting his hands on Salima and Rei's shoulders. "You've both been through a lot, but come hell or high water, you both pulled through when it mattered most"

"But there's one thing missing from this agenda..." Kai smirking mischiviously, while rubbing the palms of his hands together. Hilary instantly caught on to what he was thinking, then the chant that was directed at Rei began.

"Kiss her, kiss her, kiss her!" Hilary and Kai began, with Raul following up, until eventually everyone there was chanting it. Rei then looked into Salima's eyes.

"Well then" Salima teased to Rei. "What are you waiting for?"

"Don't have to tell me twice" Rei smirked as he took her by the hands and kiss her passionately, their friends and allies began to cheer as they forgot the world around them. They had saved this world. That was their tale.

But their tale together, had just begun...

The End!

* * *

><p>Spinster: And so our story, comes to an end<p>

Oliver: And thus ends the great rollercoaster experience that was Uprising

Spinster: There are a few people I have to thank for this, I'll let the characters read them out for you

Salima: First on the special thanks list is _AquilaTempestas_! You loved this story from start to finish and consistantly reviewed every chapter whenever you could. Plus, you were one of Spinster's inspiration's to start writing a fantasy fic in the first place.

Kai: The second person here on the special thanks list is _Nazrita_! You were a lover of this story right off the bat and continued to review and get well into the story itself, thank you very much.

King: And another special thanks goes to _Witty Eagle Proud Ravenclaw_! Though you only reviewed two chapters, Spinster is still grateful that you took time to read it and give your thoughts on those chapters, thank you very much.

Raul: That concludes the special thanks, what's the important annoucement then?

Spinster: Well *Dramatic announcer voice* Coming soon to the Beyblade fandom, two soldiers, one a redeemed man and another searching for the truth about his past, come face to face with fate and destiny itself. They take no prisoners, two people, two goals, one destiny. Uprising 2! Coming to the Beyblade fandom in March 2013!

Rei: What a great annoucement

Salima: A sequel? I'd so be up for that.

Max: But that's all the time we have on this fic for now.

Spinster: So remember Uprisers

Everyone: Fight valiantly on!

Spinster: Until the next adventure in the Uprising saga!


End file.
